The Gray Prince
by Please Read my stuff
Summary: As Mordred's forces bear down on Camelot, Morgan Le Fay flees with her son to Avalon. When Camelot is destroyed the magical energies released during its destruction reawaken the Celtic gods. Angered at being forgotten the Celtic gods set out to enslave humanity. (Please Review)
1. Chapter 1

5

_**The Gray Prince**_

A fierce wind blew through the trees, and lightning flashed across the sky as dark-gray storm clouds unleashed their vengeful fury on the English woodlands.

Morgan Le Fay strode briskly through the forest generating a magical field that left her completely unaffected by the storm raging around her.

She wore a crimson dressing gown with a silver chain fastened around her waist a small leather pouch swung from the chain as she moved through the forest hidden under a long brown traveling cloak.

She continued walking; listening to the steady sound of her son's breathing as he lay nestled in her arms and to the hiss of the rain as it evaporated off her magical field.

After a while, she decided to stop and rest. So coming to a clearing, she chose a sturdy tree and leaned her back against it. She then turned her gaze to the forest, her emerald eyes taking in every detail of her surroundings.

The storm had long since passed, the clouds tapering off to reveal a peaceful night sky with stars that twinkled brightly, and the moons luminescent glow lit the way for any night time travelers.

Despite all the beauty around her, an uneasy presence hung on the air along with the feeling something was about to happen.

A sudden wind blew through the clearing, knocking the hood of her cloak from her head. It revealed a beautiful face with the elves' pointed features, framed by a mane of long brown hair that fell in soft curls down her back.

When the wind died down, a man was standing in the center of the clearing. His short black hair was ruffled from his sudden appearance, and a frown was plastered on his handsome face. His purple eyes surveyed his surroundings. When they landed on Morgan, he smiled.

"Morgan," he greeted.

Morgan scowled "Merlin, What are you doing here?"

"I've been sent by Arthur to return you to Camelot so that you can help us defend it against Mordred."

"And what makes you think I'll return to Camelot?" she asked, while repositioning her son, so she had one hand free.

"Don't you want what's best for Marcus?" he asked, gesturing to the sleeping child in her arms.

Magic flared around Morgan. "I know what's best for my son, Merlin!" she snapped, saying his name like it was poison.

"Do you really?" he asked; his eyes narrowed. "Taking him away to Avalon where he'll be different…"

"Oh, and he'll be just like everybody else in Camelot," she fired back sarcastically "where your dear Arthur would most likely turn him into a weapon? After all, he is the perfect blend of light and dark magic, The Gray Prince, right?"

Merlin nodded slowly. "It is true, with my demonic heritage and you being the Queen of the Fey, our son will be able to perform magic like no other. He will be one that walks between light and dark in a world of shadows, but Arthur would never turn him into a weapon."

"Any father who puts his son in a basket and sets him adrift to die at sea is capable of anything."

"It was for the good of Camelot, "Merlin said defensively.

"That doesn't excuse trying to kill a child!" Morgan shouted in outrage, causing her son to whimper and shift in his sleep.

Merlin sighed. "I guess we're going to have to settle this the hard way," he said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal a silver bracelet on each wrist.

The bracelets were given to him by the priests who raised him in order to keep his mystical power in check. When that power was released, his true heritage as the son of Lilith was revealed.

As the bracelets fell to the ground, a red aura blossomed around him, and the feeling of unease increased as the world grew darker.

Morgan watched as the magical energy cocooned around Merlin. Looking down at her sleeping son, she knew he couldn't be here during the fight. "Good-bye my son, I'll see you soon," she whispered, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

She slipped a hand inside the small leather pouch dangling from her waist and pulled out a silver coin with runes inscribed around the edges. She tucked the coin into the folds of his blankets and sighed in relief as he disappeared.

Moments after Marcus disappeared from his mother's arms; Merlin's cocoon began to crack, revealing his new form.

Merlin's handsome face took on a devilish look. His eyes burned like two red-hot coals, and his canines jutted down from his upper lip. His ebony skin reflected the moonlight, and the Druidic tattoos written across his face glowed red in the darkness.

His burning gaze wandered while he absently brushed remains of the magical cocoon from his robes with a clawed hand. He spotted Morgan standing alone, staring defiantly at him unafraid of his new form.

"Where did you send Marcus?" he asked.

"I didn't want Marcus to see his parents trying to kill each other, so I used an ambulo to send him to Avalon," Morgan answered as she cast her traveling cloak aside.

Merlin nodded approvingly as he admired Morgan's newly revealed curves and bosom.

"I guess we should get started."

"Who said we haven't already?" Morgan asked, fading from view.

Merlin's eyes widened, and it was only his years of experience that allowed him to dodge the sword that swiped at his back. He hit the ground rolling and shot a stream of black hellfire at Morgan.

Morgan watched the flames approach devouring everything in their path as they made their way towards her. She dropped the sword and stretched her hand towards the flames. Closing her eyes, she looked deep inside herself and grabbed hold of her soul's pure power. She sent it flying out of her outstretched hand.

Merlin watched, stunned, as the soul energy extinguished the flames in a moment. It slammed into his chest blasting, away the top half of his robes and throwing him to the ground.

While Merlin was on the ground, Morgan slipped a hand inside her leather pouch and pulled out a small iron pentagram. She threw it into the air, and it hovered over Merlin for a moment before increasing in size and slamming deep into the ground with Merlin in the center.

She walked forward and placed a hand on the thin strip of metal protruding from the ground and muttered a word of power; the pentagram blazed with blue light just as Merlin opened his eyes.

Merlin gritted his teeth against the searing pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that the skin had been burned away, revealing the bare muscle beneath. It glistened wetly in the moonlight.

He closed his eyes and focused his magic into his demonic healing ability. He sighed in relief as the skin began to grow back.

Morgan leaned heavily on her knees, panting, as sweat dripped down her face. Using soul energy and binding Merlin took a lot more out of her than she expected.

"Iron coated in salt, cooled in holy water, and endowed with the magic of the elves, then forged into a pentagram; I never expected you to use anything like this," Merlin said admiringly as he examined his temporary prison.

Morgan wiped the sweat from her brow. As she straightened up to see Merlin in human form standing on the bloodstained ground in the middle of the pentagram.

"I knew this day was coming, so I combined all the things that can bind or weaken a demon into the most powerful devil's trap ever created, just for you."

"You know this won't hold me for long," Merlin commented.

"It doesn't have to," Morgan replied, slamming her hands together and forcing the last of her magic into the devil's trap.

The devil's trap shone like a star in the middle of the clearing, and Merlin screamed as it drained his magic.

Thin streams of crimson energy fed into the five points of the pentagram, and Merlin fell to his knees, burning his bare hands as they came into contact with the Elvin magic.

The glow finally faded away as Merlin ran out of magic to drain, leaving behind a defeated wizard kneeling in the charred and twisted remains of the devil's trap.

Morgan leaned heavily on a nearby tree with a sigh. She waited for the world to stop spinning; the spell left her completely drained, which meant she could not use an ambulo to take her to Avalon. She pushed herself off the tree and began making her way out of the clearing. She was almost there when she was stopped by Merlin's voice.

"Wait," he cried and waited for Morgan to turn around before continuing. "I know I am going to die, so consider this my last request. Make sure our son lives a happy life, free of all the death and destruction we grew up in."

Morgan smiled, "You don't even have to ask, I would have done that anyway."

Merlin gave her a grateful smile and gave into unconsciousness.

Morgan walked away, wondering what the future would bring.

A week later Mordred's forces attacked Camelot, and Merlin gave his life to drag Mordred into the underworld for all eternity. The magical energy released during Camelot's destruction revitalized the old Celtic gods and allow them to walk the earth once more.

Their first act was to spread throughout the known world and conquer it.

Morgan watched it all from the safety of Avalon and hoped this new power never darkened Avalon shores.

_**TGP**_

The sun was just beginning to rise on Avalon, painting the sky various shades of red and orange. The inhabitants of Avalon billowed out of the ivory castle, eager to start the day.

Five-year-old Marcus Le Fay crept into the throne room. His footsteps echoed loudly on the marble floor as he made his way to the viewing pool in the center of the room. The viewing pool was a window to the past, present, and future.

Marcus was planning to use it to get his first glimpse of the mortal world. Usually, his mother kept him away from the viewing pool. She claimed that the human world was too dark and terrible for him to view, but this morning she slept in, so he seized his chance to see what the outside world was really like.

Marcus stepped past the obsidian cherub statues that surrounded the viewing pool, the water sparkled in the light from the high-arched windows. He stretched out his hand and poured a little bit of magic into the water. The water churned and blurred images began to appear.

A woman in blue robes flew over a burning town. She laughed as the inhabitants fled before her. With a wave of her hand, she ripped their souls from their bodies. Another wave and their lifeless husks rose to attack those still in the town.

Marcus stumbled back from the viewing pool. His face was ghostly pale, his purple eyes were wide with shock, and his body was drenched in a cold sweat. He had never seen anyone be that cruel to another living creature.

"Now, do you see why I didn't want you to know about the outside world?"

Marcus turned to see his mother still dressed in her nightgown looking at him sadly, "Why would someone do something like that?"

Morgan sighed. She walked over and scooped Marcus up into her arms and carried him over to her throne. She sat down on her throne and ran her hand through his short brown hair in an attempt to soothe the horrid images he saw from his mind. "Long ago, the Celtic gods were worshiped by pretty much everyone, but over time they were forgotten and almost faded away. The magical energies your father and Mordred released during the destruction of Camelot revitalize the Celtic gods. Not wanting to be forgotten again they decided to enslave the world and force its people to worship them to ensure their power would continue to grow."

"Why can't they just work with the people like we do here on Avalon?"

"The gods did work with their followers at one point, but after that were forgotten they became bitter."

They sat in silence for a long moment. Finally Marcus said. "Mother I want you to train me in the ways of magic."

Morgan looked down at her son curiously, "Why?"

"I want to end the mortal suffering, so they can know the peace that we enjoy here on Avalon to do that I need to defeat the Celtic gods."

Morgan thought hard. She always felt guilty about not being there during Camelot's fall. She felt that if she'd been there she could've maybe stopped the Celts from rising, but she couldn't leave Avalon to fight them. She had a son to think about and a kingdom to rule. She shook her head, "Alright I'll train you, but you don't leave the island until I say you're ready, understand?"

Marcus nodded his eyes set and his jaw clenched in determination. Morgan lifted him off her lap and set him on the floor, then pushed him towards the door. "Go enjoy your day, for tomorrow your training begins." Marcus nodded and ran from the room as fast as his little legs carry him.

Morgan watched him go and hoped she was making the right decision.


	2. Chapter 2

7

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 2**_

Fifteen-year-old Marcus Le Fay stood in the Castle Courtyard waiting for his mother. In the past ten years, his mother trained him in her specialties: forging, soul magic, water magic, and fire magic. Every day for the past ten years he trained himself until he fell unconscious. Every night he would check the viewing pool and hope the Celts changed for the better, but every night he saw them commit terrible acts that drove him to train even harder. Now after ten years of hard training he felt he was finally ready to go out into the world and end the mortal suffering.

He turned as he heard his mother step into the courtyard. Like all Fay the passage of time had not changed her. She still wore the same crimson gown with a silver chain hanging about her waist that had a small leather pouch connected to it. Her long brown hair was in a functional ponytail swaying in the morning breeze, and her emerald eyes were determined but sad.

As she stepped into the courtyard, Morgan gazed upon her son. He had changed from the knobby kneed little boy that used to run around the castle causing trouble. Since viewing the horrors committed by the Celts in the viewing pool, he dedicated himself to defeating the Celts and freeing the mortals from their bondage. When she wasn't training him in magic, he spent his time in the castle library reading ancient tomes, learning tricks, and spells the Fay hadn't used in a thousand years.

His face had matured over the years, becoming narrow with high cheekbones and a prominent chin. His long brown hair was tied into a ponytail with a strip of red dragon scales, and his purple eyes were hard from all the terrible things that he witnessed the Celts do. He wore skintight golden armor of his own design that responded to his will and showed off his lean muscular frame.

Morgan stopped 5 feet from her son, "We don't have to do this you know."

Marcus sighed and shook his head, "Mother we've been over this. I have to set the mortals free from their enslavement."

"Why does it have to be you?" Morgan asked angrily.

"Who else is there? The mortals are too weak, and the other godly pantheons are too busy guarding their own territories."

Morgan sighed knowing this was true, "Alright then you know what you must do," she said drawing her magic about her.

Marcus nodded and charged, the lower half of his arm transforming into a sword as he did. He slashed his sword at his mother's midsection, but she spun out of the way.

Morgan dodged the sword strike, and reached into her leather pouch. She pulled out two wooden bears and threw them on the ground. With a snap of her fingers, they grew to life-size and charged forward. Their eyes glowed light-blue with the magic that animated them.

Marcus managed to dodge the first bear, only for the second one to barrel into him, sending him stumbling backwards. The bear clamped its jaws around his leg, its wooden teeth broke as they ground against his armor, but the weight and pressure on his leg held him in place, as its brother stood up on its hind legs and walked forward, its paw raised to tear out his throat.

Marcus took a deep breath and blew a blast of fire at the oncoming bear. The bear flailed around trying to put out the flames before falling to the ground and continuing to burn. With one bear taken care of, he reached down and grabbed the one clamped onto his leg by the neck and tore its head from its body.

With the bears destroyed, Marcus looked around for his mother. He spotted her floating above the courtyard, a giant serpent of fire hovering behind her. She thrust her arm forward, and the fiery serpent lunged forward its mouth stretched wide. Marcus let out a bloodcurdling scream as he was devoured by the serpent.

Hearing her son's scream, Morgan instantly extinguished the flames. As the flames died down she was horrified by what she saw. Her son's blackened and charred body lay in the middle of the courtyard.

Morgan screamed seeing the state of her son and forgot all about the battle. She flew towards the ground and landed beside him, the burned to grass crunching under her weight and the smell of cooked meat lingered on the air. As gently as she could she placed his badly burned head in her lap. "Oh, Marcus I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to I never meant for this to happen." She said with tears streaming down her face.

Marcus looked up at his mother his eyelids had been burned away so now his eyes bulged out of his skull, "Why mother?" he gasped.

Morgan hugged his head to her chest and rocked back and forth muttering", Sorry," over and over again while listening to his ragged breathing. She stiffened as his breathing suddenly stopped. She put an ear to his chest and let out an agonizing wail as she realized he was dead. She collapsed onto her son's chest and wept.

She was so distraught over the death of her son she never felt the magic binding caller sliding around her neck. "It's over," said a familiar voice in her ear.

Morgan spun around to see her son standing behind her unharmed "How," She asked glancing back at the body on the ground only to see a faded away", an illusion?"

Marcus nodded.

Morgan sprang to her feet and slapped him across the face, "Don't you ever do that to me again I thought I killed you!" She screamed wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging close as tears of relief streamed down her face.

Marcus wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the stinging pain in his cheek, "I'm sorry. It was just the easiest way to defeat you without hurting you."

After a while, they released each other and stepped back. Marcus laid his finger on the collar around his mother's neck and it was absorbed into his armor. With a thought, his armor withdrew from his body to form a torc around his neck and revealing the clothes beneath. He wore a white T-shirt under a brown trench-coat and brown pants.

"So, I guess you won." Morgan said breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"I guess you are ready to go out into the world on your own," Morgan looked at him with worried eyes, "do you at least have a plan?"

Marcus glanced around him, "Perhaps we can discuss that somewhere more private?"

Morgan nodded and led the way back into the castle.

_**TGP**_

Marcus stood with his back to the viewing pool facing his mother's throne.

Morgan leaned forward on her throne, her hands clasped together under her chin. "So, what is your plan?"

Marcus began pacing back and forth in front of the throne, "I realized that I'm not strong enough to take on the Celts alone. So, I am going to petition the other godly pantheons for their help."

"What makes you think the other gods will help you? You said it yourself their too busy guarding their own territories."

"Yes, but they are losing more and more territory to the Celts"

Morgan nodded, "Who are you going to first?"

Marcus stopped pacing and looked at her, "I will head to the South Pole to speak and speak to the Norris."

"Why go to the Norse first?"

"As of late they have lost the most territory to the Celts. I feel that they would be more open to helping me."

Marcus turned around and waved his hand over the viewing pool, the water shimmered before showing the frozen tundra of the South Pole. With a final nod to his mother, he jumped into the water and disappeared.

"Good luck," Morgan whispered after he was gone.

_**TGP**_

As Marcus fell through the sky, he bent his knees to lessen the damage he would take when he hit the ground. A white mushroom cloud shot into the sky when he hit the ground. He climbed out of the snow-covered crater, shook the snow from his body, and hunched his back against the bitter cold while pulling his trench-coat tighter around him.

He shielded his eyes and peered into the distance, but all he could see was a wall of falling snow. He waved his hand, and the snow swirled around to form a pure white horse. He climbed onto the horse, then cupped his hands against his mouth, and muttered a locating spell. A small red orb appeared in his hand and a shot off into the distance. He squeezed the horse with his thighs, and it began to gallop after the orb.

Marcus had been following the orb for about three hours, his feet and hands had gone numb. He was just about to stop and take a break when a massive ice dome with a gate carved in the center came into view. The orb floated before the gate. He pulled his horse to a stop and climbed down. The horse disappeared in a shower of snowflakes. He took a step forward only for a humongous figure to burst out of the snow covered ground.

Jason Storm was the son of Skadi, Norse goddess of winter and the hunt, and Poseidon Greek god of the sea, earthquakes, and storms.

Now you would think because he was the son of two powerful gods he would be well-respected in Midgard, a place well known for respecting strength and power, but that wasn't the case.

The other Norse gods looked at him as if he was birthed to give the Greeks a foothold in the Norse territory. It didn't help matters that when he was a child he could not control his power over ice and storms and ended up injuring many gods. It was Midgard's king Odin that took an interest in him. The old king didn't see him as a freak, or a traitor. He trained him to use his powers and for this kindness Jason dedicated his life to protecting Midgard to show that Odin's kindness to a scared and lonely little boy would not be forgotten.

"Who are you and what do you want in Midgard?" Jason asked the man in front of him

Marcus stared at the man in front of him. He stood an impressive 7 feet tall rippling with muscles that threatened to tear his skin. His short blonde hair was cut close to his skull and his sea green eyes stared suspiciously at him.

Marcus could sense the power of the sea and the power of winter dwelled in this man, so he had to be careful he was in his territory, "I am Prince Marcus of Avalon, and I have come to speak with your King on an urgent matter."

Jason narrowed his eyes and raised a hand. Ice began to crawl its way up Marcus's feet he tried to use a bit of fire magic to melt the ice, but he was too cold and tired the ice stopped at the base of his neck.

"What are you doing?" Marcus asked trying not to show how nervous he was as he tried to break the thick layer of ice that now covered most of his body.

Jason ignored him and reached into his patch coat of white furs. Marcus tensed thinking he was going to pull out a weapon, but relaxed when he pulled out a smooth oval-shaped blue stone. He held the stone in front of Marcus. When nothing happened he placed the stone back in his pocket and raised his hand again.

"Wait, what was that stone?"

Jason paused and lowered his hand, "That was a truth stone it glows if you have any harmful Intentions towards Midgard."

Marcus didn't need to ask what would've happened if he had harmful intentions to Midgard. He would've been killed instantly, and in his weakened state there would've been nothing he could have done to stop it.

Jason raised his hand again, and the ice around Marcus's body took on the consistency of Jell-O and formed into shackles around his wrist and ankles with a chain that spiraled into the deep snow. Jason picked up the chain and pulled Marcus toward the gates.

The gates were 7 foot tall and 7 feet wide made of solid ice with an octagon carved in the center. Jason stopped before the gate and placed his hand over the octagon. The octagon shone a brilliant white then the gates begin to slide open. Sunlight spilled out of the gates causing the snow to steam

Jason walked into the light pulling Marcus and behind him.

As Marcus stepped to into the dome he was amazed at what he saw. A large meadow surrounded by trees and fields of tall grass filled the dome. Inside the meadow was a large city filled with stalls, shops, and houses. Children ran down the gravel street laughing and playing, smiling as a gentle breeze filled with the scent of rich earth ruffled their hair and sunlight shone down from a clear blue sky to warm their little faces.

He was brought of his musing when his guard yanked on the chains and began leading him towards a massive palace in the middle of the city.

The Palace was a humongous three story rectangular building made of massive wooden logs with stained-glass windows depicted some of Midgard's greatest battles. Archers leaned against the railing that surrounded the roof, keeping a watchful eye out for any trouble.

As he was being led down the street, Marcus noticed a good many people were glaring at him. After a moment, he realized they were not glaring at him but at his guard. He glanced at his guard to see his reaction, he saw that his guard was just ignoring them, so he thought if they weren't bothering his guard he wasn't going to let it bother him.

As they drew closer to the Palace, he saw a blacksmith carving runes into a sword with his finger, I'm going to have to learn that before I leave he thought to himself. They stop before a set of double doors. Two guards in silver armor step forward and moved in front of the doors.

Marcus watched his guard step forward, "I am Jason storm, and I bring Marcus Prince of Avalon to see the King."

One of the guards pulled out a truth stone from somewhere and held it in front of the now named Jason, when nothing happened he nodded and both guards went back to their positions on either side of the door.

Jason led Marcus through the doors. Once inside, Marcus gazed around curiously torches lined the walls there flames reflected in glass showcases that contained weapons used in some of Midgard's greatest battles.

Jason pulled on the chains and led him down a long stretch of red carpet to another set of double doors. He stopped before the doors and knocked. After a moment, a voice on the other side bade him enter. They went inside and Marcus got his first look at Midgard's Royal throne room.

It was a large room with a marble floor, alabaster statues of the past Kings of Midgard led their way to a golden throne sitting on the throne was a man ten feet tall broad shoulder and barrel chested. His face was heavily scarred from many battles, and his long white hair came down to his shoulders. Icy blue eyes stared impassively at Marcus and his lips were set in a firm line. He wore a blue cloak and clutched a silver spear with a brass point in his hand. Five rings on his hand glinted in the light from an intricately designed silver chandeliers that hung from the rafters that crisscross the ceiling.

Jason led Marcus to the throne and pushed him to his knees before going to whisper in the Kings ear.

While on his knees Marcus looked around for the first time he noticed all the guards that filled the room. He thought it was strange they let him in here so easily, but it appears that a large number of guards were here to make sure he didn't try anything.

They were all impressively tall and broad to wearing silver armor and carrying a variety of weapons. He definitely did not want to have to fight these soldiers he had heard about the Norse skills and battle that one soldier could take down an Army by themselves. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of that kind of power multiplied by ten or even twenty, so he better tread carefully. He was brought out of his thoughts when the King spoke.

"Why have you come to Midgard?"

Marcus stayed on his knees but look the King firmly in the eye, I have come to request your help to defeat the Celts too long have the mortals suffered at their hands. They are destroying our world piece by piece and need to be stopped.

Odin leaned back on his throne his face and passive. He too had thought the Celts needed to be stopped, but he couldn't do anything because the Celts captured his granddaughter when she was patrolling their borders. As that thought crossed his mind he smiled, "Alright I'll help you, but you have to do something for me first."

Marcus tensed worried about what the King could ask, "Alright what is it?" He asked warily

My granddaughter has been captured by the Celts and taken to the stronghold. They are using her as a hostage to take away more of my territory I want you to rescue her. If you save my granddaughter I will give you any help you need in the war against the Celts"

Marcus smiled at the thought of finally getting some payback on the Celts for all the pain they caused, "I'll do it." he said smiling while standing to his feet. He flexed his arms and the ice chains that bound his wrist exploded. The guards move forward to stop him, but Odin stop them with a raised hand.

With a nod to the King, Marcus ran to the corner of the room and dived into the shadows of a statue.

Odin watched him go with interest, he had heard about the Fay's ability to shadow travel but never seen it.

"My King are you sure it is wise to put the princesses fate in the hands of an outsider, " Jason asked staring at the spot where Marcus had disappeared.

Odin sighed, "It's our only hope the Celts have guarded her well against anyone from the Norse territory."

Jason nodded.

"Jason I have a request of you my boy."

"Anything my King," Jason said dropping to one knee.

"I want you to go to Greece and try to talk the Greek pantheon into joining this coming war."

Jason stiffened usually he stayed as far from the Greek territory as possible. He blamed his father for making him an outcast in the Norse kingdom. As if reading his thoughts Odin commented.

"Plus I'm sure your mother would love to see you."

Jason sighed his mother had moved to Greece to be closer to his father. He hadn't seen her in many years, "Alright my king I will go."

"Thank you my boy and look on the bright side your father can teach you to use your power over storms in ways that I cannot."

Jason nodded and disappeared in a swirl of snow.

Odin waved his hand and the guards filed out. When he was alone he slumped in his chair, he was getting too old for this perhaps it was time for him to retire. He could barely sustain the magic that created Midgard's perfect weather inside the dome and couldn't sense very far outside it anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

11

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 3**_

The moon shone brightly in a starless sky as people clad in chains were marched up a hill that overlooked the ocean towards the Celtic stronghold.

The Celtic stronghold was a massive square structure with a tower on each side. The entire building was inscribed with protective runes and Triquetra, the Celtic symbol of protection, made of blue fire hovered above each tower. The entire structure was outlined in a faint blue light generated by its magical barrier.

Marcus emerged from the shadow of a tree into a forest a mile away from the Celtic stronghold. He gazed upon the structure looking for any weak points. He could see archers walking across walkways that connected each tower and huge blocky golems patrolling the grounds. He knew you wouldn't be able to sneak into the fortress without being seen, so he would have to use the shadow to rescue Odin's granddaughter.

The sound of thousands of footsteps and rustling chains drew his attention away from the fort. He saw people in silver chains being led up the dirt road towards the fort by a woman in a blue robe. He scowled and clinched his fist hard enough to draw blood as he saw those that didn't move fast enough being beaten or shot by the archers.

He wished he could do something to help, but he couldn't afford to be seen. He had to rescue Odin's granddaughter, Thrud, and secure the Norse's help in the coming war, so with a heavy heart he turned away dying a little inside each time he heard a fist strike flesh or arrow whizz through the air.

He turned and walked deeper into the forest, where he sat down cross-legged leaning against a large pine tree. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to absorb a little nature magic, but gagged as it flowed into his body.

The nature magic here was tainted full of death and the blood of the innocent; he wouldn't be able to draw strength from it. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the task at hand getting inside the fort. He focused his magic into a shadow, his shadow turned into a large black cobra with glowing blue eyes and shot towards the Celtic stronghold.

The shadow cobra slithered across the ground and slammed into the fortress, splashing against its barrier like water. Marcus grunted as his shadow was destroyed, he forced a little more magic into it causing the serpent to reform. He forced it through the barrier; beads of sweat ran down his face and blood dripped out of his nose from the stress of forcing his serpent through such a powerful defense.

_**TGP**_

Thrud, granddaughter of Odin, daughter of Thor, goddess of storms, magic, and war was a strong independent woman. She prided herself on being able to get out of any situation with her own strength and skill. However, right now as she sat chained to a wall inside a cell with her godly powers bound she wished for a little help.

Three weeks ago, she and a small band of guards were patrolling the Norse territory when they were ambushed by Celtic soldiers. They killed her men and took her hostage, they stripped her of her clothes and weapons and threw her naked into a cell, inscribed with Celtic runes that drained her powers. Every day a man would come into the cell and try to take advantage of her and every day they would have to drag a dead body out.

After a while, they chained her arms to the wall thinking that if she didn't have use of her arms then she couldn't fight back, but she proved them wrong by strangling the next guard that came in with her legs. Even when they sent more than one man in they would always end up dead. However, she didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. They were wearing her down, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she was too weak to fight back then they would ravage her body.

She was brought out of her dismal thoughts when a black substance oozed through the wall of her cell. She watched fascinated as it plopped on to the floor before taking on a human shape, "Are you Thrud?" It asked.

"What if I am?" Thrud asked suspiciously.

"I am Marcus. I was sent by your grandfather to rescue you."

Thrud let out a harsh bark of laughter, "And how do you plan to do that?" She moved her arms causing the chains around her arms to rattle, "in case you haven't noticed I'm chained to a wall and you're just a… What are you?"

"I am a shadow. My physical self is outside; I am using my shadow to create a hole in the Celts defenses to get you out of here. Now are you going to come with me or not?"

Though she didn't show it, Thrud was impressed. She only knew of a few creatures that could travel through shadows and even fewer that could bring others through shadows with them. She couldn't think of any reason why those creatures would help her. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she nodded, "Get me out of here."

The shadow moved along the wall until it was behind her. Thrud felt herself fall backwards then she was consumed by darkness.

When Marcus felt Thrud fall through his shadow into and appear in front of him, he opened his eyes to get his first look at the woman he rescued.

She sat huddled on the ground with her long legs pulled up to her chest, and her slender arms wrapped around her knees. The moonlight accentuated her curves, and set her long blonde hair a glow. She shivered as the wind caressed her body.

Marcus stood up and stepped from the shadows, twigs crunched under his feet the sound caused Thrud's head to turn towards the sound. It was then he saw she had beautiful light blue eyes.

Thrud didn't know what happened. One minute she was sitting in a cell the next minute sitting on wet grass shivering as the cold wind caressed her naked form. The sound of a twig snapping made her turn around. She saw a man step out of the shadow of a tree.

He was tall with a narrow face and a lean build his long brown hair swayed in the breeze. He wore a brown trench-coat, a white shirt and brown pants. As he stepped into the moonlight she could see dried blood gathered in thick lines under his eyes and nose.

"Well," she demanded, "are you just going to stand there or are you going to give me something to wear?"

Marcus jumped and turned away as he realized he had been staring. He removed his trench-coat then removed the golden torc from around his neck and threw them to her.

Thrud caught them and slipped the trench –coat on, but held the torc in her hand and gazed at it curiously.

Marcus saw the look on her face, "Put the torc on and run your finger across it. It will transform into golden armor that will respond to your will."

Thrud nodded and put the torc on. She then ran a finger across its smooth surface; gold medal flowed across her clinging to every curve and forming into skintight golden armor. She stood up and began to stretch, testing the mobility of the armor.

While she was doing this Marcus tried to ignore how good she looked in his armor. He cleared his throat, "I think we need to leave before they discover your missing." He turned around and began to walk away only to stumble. He placed his hand on the tree to steady himself. The long trip to Midgard and the stress of breaking the Celts barrier had taken its toll on him. The world was spinning and darkness crept in at the edges of his vision.

Thrud saw Marcus stumble and moved to his side, "Are you alright?" She asked. She wasn't going to let the man who rescued her collapse in enemy territory.

Marcus shook his head trying to make the world come back into focus, "I'm fine let's just get out of here before we get caught."

"I think it's too late for that," said a triumphant voice above them.

They looked up to see a woman in blue robes clutching a silver staff floating above them. Her long white hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and her dark eyes radiated with malevolent power.

Marcus's eyes widened as he recognized the woman as the one he had seen in the viewing pool all those years ago. The one who's actions had shaped his life, and set him on the path to freeing the mortals.

Thrud's eyes narrowed, and her face became a mask of rage, "White lady what are you doing here?!"

The white lady smiled showing perfectly white teeth with inhumanly long canines, "Did you really think we would let you escape. We knew the second you left your cell. Although I have to thank you, I was getting bored waiting to be sent out to destroy another town. Killing you and your would-be rescuer will alleviate my boredom."

Thrud gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists, "The only one who's going to die here is you. You're going to pay for what you in your zombie horde did to my men." She raised her hand to summon a storm to blast the while lady out of the sky but nothing happened.

The White Lady laughed, "Having a little trouble?"

Thrud scowled. She thought once she was out of her cell and away from the power draining runes her powers would return but apparently it was going to take some time.

A red aura blazed around the White Lady as she gathered her power about her, "I'm afraid I can't let you leave here. We need the Norse to think you're still our captive, so that we can take more of their territory without a fight." She thrust her staff forward launching a wave of destructive energy at her former captive and her rescuer.

Thrud watched her death flying towards her with an impassive face. If she was going to die she was going to die like a warrior.

An explosion shook the forest. Everything within the forest died instantly as it was consumed by destructive energy. Lush trees became blackened husks, and soft green grass withered and died leaving hard clay behind.

The White Lady eagerly waited for the smoke to clear, so she could claim her newest soldiers.

Thrud blinked the spots from her eyes surprised to find herself alive. She looked around and saw Marcus standing with the hands stretched above his head a white aura billowing around his body. Strands of white energy flowed from his fingers and formed into a protective dome above them.

Marcus's chest heaved and sweat rolled down his face as he used the soul magic to create a protective dome to shield them from the destructive energy. He gritted his teeth as he felt the last of his magic drain away. With the last of his strength, Marcus condensed the dome down into a ball that floated just above his palms. He sent it shooting towards the white lady. With his strength gone, he fell to the ground unconscious.

The White Lady smiled as the last of the smoke dissipated. She floated towards the ground to pick up her new minions only to be hit by a white sphere. She screamed as her robes were consumed by soul fire, she flailed around desperately trying to put out the flames.

Thrud watched in amazement as Marcus used soul magic to create a dome that protected them from the destructive energy. She was impressed that he had the strength to tap into his soul in his weakened state. She smiled as she watched him condense the dome down into a ball that floated just above his hands and launch it at the White lady before collapsing.

She rushed over to Marcus and knelt at his side, she put two fingers to his neck to check for a pulse, sighing in relief as she realized he was just unconscious. Hearing a scream, she looked up to see the White Lady consumed by the pale flames of soul fire. She looked between the flailing White Lady and the unconscious Marcus torn between getting revenge for her fallen comrades and getting to safety while she had the chance. She looked as the White Lady wailed in agony, "This isn't over I will have my revenge. You will die by my hands." She grabbed Marcus by the arm and pulled him onto her back before sprinting away.

_**TGP**_

Marcus awoke to a cold breeze brushing against his cheek and the sounds of a crackling fire not far away. Without opening his eyes he felt the ground beneath him. The earth was cool, mashed flat with bits of stoneground and it. Cracking his eyes open he saw shadows dancing across stone. Alright he was in a cave, but how did you get here? Thrud's voice brought him out of his musing.

"Ah you're awake, how are you feeling?"

Marcus opened his eyes and turned his head to see Thrud sitting at the mouth of the cave watching the snow fall outside, "I'm fine just a bit tired." He sat up and stretch to get the stiffness out of his body then moved to the mouth of the cave.

"Where are we?"

"In a cave two miles away from Midgard."

Thrud turned to face him, "Thank you for saving me."

Marcus shook his head, "I'm the one who should be thanking you. If you hadn't carried me away from the battle after I collapsed I would be dead right now."

Thrud scowled at the very idea of leaving a comrade on the battlefield to die, she shook her head. "So, what do you have against the Celts?"

Marcus sighed, "It's a long story."

Thrud gestured to the falling snow, "It's not like were going anywhere."

"Alright," he leaned back against the cave wall, "well for starters it's my father's fault the Celts rose to power again."

Thrud raised an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate on that?"

Marcus exhaled and ran a hand through his hair, "My father was Merlin, the sorcerer who died at the fall of Camelot dragging Mordred in to hell for all eternity."

Thrud nodded everyone had heard about the fall of Camelot and the noble sacrifice of the great sorcerer Merlin, but she was surprised to hear that Merlin had a son. "Wow your father was Merlin. What was he like?"

Marcus shook his head, "I don't know I never met him. My mother ran from Camelot after she had a vision it was going to be destroyed."

Thrud looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry."

Marcus waved her off, "Don't be it's hard to feel sad about someone you never met."

An awkward silence fell between them.

After a while Thrud broke the silence. "So, how was it your father's fault the Celts rose?"

"The magical energy released during the destruction of Camelot allowed the Celts to revive themselves."

"So, your father unintentionally helped the Celts rise?"

"Yes."

"And you feel responsible for what your father caused?"

"No, but I do want to stop the mortals from suffering at the hands of the Celts."

Thrud looked at him with new respect, "That's very noble"

Marcus shook his head, "It's not noble it's just the right thing to do we immortals had our time to rule now it's the mortals turn"

"I may not agree with that I do agree that the Celts need to be stopped and the mortals need to be freed."

Marcus looked at her curiously. "So, what do you have against the Celts?"

Thrud turned to stare out at the falling snow, "During the first attempt to invade Midgard the Celts killed my mother. For that I will see them all dead and the ground soaked in their blood."

Marcus saw tears brimming in her eyes. He went to put a comforting hand on her shoulder then hesitated and dropped it back to his side with a sigh. He didn't want Thrud to think he thought her week.

They sat in silence neither knowing what to say after all that they had revealed to each other.

Suddenly Thrud stiffened, and Marcus jumped at her sudden movement, "What is it?"

Thrud's eyes glowed an icy blue as she rose to her feet, "The White Lady and her undead army are marching towards Midgard. The storm is slowing them down, but if something doesn't change a lot of people are going to die."

Marcus followed her example and climbed to his feet, he gazed at Thrud admiring the way the snow swirled about her. "So, what are we going to do?"

Thrud turned to him and he took a step back unnerved by the icy blue glow of her eyes, "We?"

Marcus straightened up and brushed snow from his clothes, "Yes we. I told you that I wasn't going to let the Celts hurt anymore innocence."

Thrud smiled at him and shrugged off his trench-coat, "Alright then what can this armor do?" She asked handing his trench-coat to him.

_**TGP**_

A few minutes later, Thrud ran across the snow-covered ground, the snow muffled her hurried footsteps and the falling snow slid smoothly from the golden armor. She smiled eagerly as she closed in on the first undead soldier, happy to finally get some retribution for all the pain the Celts caused her and her people. She concentrated and spikes grew from her fist, she threw her fist forward and shattered the soldier's skull, spilling brain matter and blood onto the snow.

Marcus watched it awe from atop the cave as Thrud decimated the undead Army. Their clawed hands were unable to touch her as she danced and pirouetted among them, smashing skulls and cutting off heads. He wished he could help her, but he was still too weak from his previous battle all he could do was change the density of the snow to slow the Army down.

Thrud smiled as the last of the zombies fell. She walked through the bloody slush to stand before the White Lady. She concentrated and the lower half of her right arm transformed into a blade. She reared back to thrust the blade into the white Lady's chest, but froze when a familiar voice came from beneath the hood of the blue cloak.

"Would you really kill me?" The voice asked.

Thrud stumbled backwards her eyes wide with shock, "Who are you?" She asked with a slight tremor in her voice

"Don't you recognize your own mother?" Asked the figure as it reached up to pull back the hood. The hood fell away to reveal a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Mom," Thrud choked out with tears streaming down her face.

"Yes dear, it's me," her mother said walking forward.

"No," Thrud said scrambling backwards, "that white bitch killed you!"

Her mother shook her head with a loving smile. "No dear, the white lady only took control of me, but being so far away from the Celtic stronghold, I was able to break free and come back to you at last."

Thrud was conflicted. She wanted her mother back more than anything, but it just wasn't possible, was it?

The woman who looked like her mother smiled and took a step towards her, "Remember when you were little girl and you saw your father and I sparring. Do you remember what I told you when you ask if you could spar with us?"

Thrud looked at the woman who claimed to be her mother, "You told me that when I got bigger you would teach me everything you know and that one day I would be stronger than both you and father."

"That's right," said her mother kneeling down in front of her.

"Mom is that you?" Thrud asked with wide teary eyes.

"Yes, darling it's me." Her mother said opening her arms wide.

Thrud crashed into her mother's chest crying with joy at finally having her mother back, her mother wrapped her arms around her in a warm loving hug.

Distracted by the joy of finally having her mother back, Thrud never saw her mother's face morph into the White Lady's, or the dagger she pulled from her sleeve. She drew the dagger back preparing to thrust it into the base of her neck. Just before the White Lady drove the dagger into Thrud's neck an ice spike shot out of the ground and pierced her eye. She screamed in pain and pushed Thrud away from her.

Marcus appeared beside a stunned Thrud, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. What happened?"

"I don't know the White Lady turned into some woman and tried to stab you in the back."

They turned to look at the white lady. Her hood had fallen off when she pushed Thrud away revealing her souvenirs from soul fire. The left side of her face was badly burned. Her left eye and the left side of her mouth were melted shut while her teeth gleamed through a whole her cheek on the right side of her face. "Aren't I Beautiful?" She asked as she glared at them with her right eye.

Marcus grimaced as he watched her teeth move through the hole in her jaw as she talked. He turned to Thrud, "Well, at least the outside now matches the inside."

Thrud ignored him and walked over to the White Lady. She knelt down beside her, "How did you turn into my mother?"

The white lady glared at her and tried to spit at her, but with half her mouth melted shut the spit only slid down her chin. She wiped her chin with her left hand and Thrud saw her middle finger and pinky finger were melted together, "I'm not telling you anything," She snarled.

A sinister smile made its way onto Thrud's face, "Oh really, we'll see about that," she turned to Marcus, "can you restrain her?"

Marcus nodded, "Sure." He reached into the pocket of his trench–coat and pulled out five gold rings. He threw them at the White Lady. The five rings bound her arms, legs, and neck to the ground, once they were in the ground the rings blazed with power.

"There," Marcus said, "those five rings are made from gold blessed by a priest and cooled in holy water. They have special runes carved into them that let them feed off the natural magic in the area. She's not going to be able to escape or use her power."

Thrud turned back to the White Lady, "You have one chance to tell me what I want to know before I start getting payback for all the people you've hurt. Now, how did you turn into my mother?"

"Go to hell you pretentious little brat!"

Thrud sighed, "So be it." She concentrated and her pointer finger became a blade, she lowered the blade towards the White Lady's remaining eye, "one more chance," she warned. The White Lady stared defiantly up to her. Thrud shook her head and put the tip of the blade under the White Lady's eye and scooped it from her head before cutting the optical nerve.

The White Lady screamed as her world went dark.

"Are you going to tell me what I want to know?" Thrud asked her as blood and viscous fluid ran down The White Lady's face.

The white lady kept her mouth clenched shut refusing to say anything.

Thrud sighed, "Fine more fun for me." She concentrated and the rest of her fingers became blades, lightning arced between her fingers as she dug them into the White Lady's stomach.

For the next hour, the White Lady screams echoed through the frozen wasteland that was the South Pole. Marcus watched stone-faced at the events taking place before him, a darker part of his mind relished the White Lady's pain and wanted to join in. He clamped down on that thought hard he would not become one of the monsters he was trying to defeat this was just a necessary evil needed to get information. Suddenly the white lady's voice brought him back to reality. "Alright I'll talk," she half screamed half wailed.

Thrud stopped administering electrical shocks to her organs, "Alright tell me what I want to know. How did you turn into my mother?"

The White Lady smiled at her with cracked teeth caused by the electrical shocks administered to her body, "I absorb the soul of every person I kill and can use them as I see fit."

Thrud looked at the White Lady horrified and she laughed, "That's right little girl your mommies inside Me." she said with an insane cackle that turned into a cough as she hacked up blood with bits of meat in it.

Thrud's horror turned to rage; she plunged her hand inside the White Lady's chest and gripped her heart.

The White Lady gasped in pain, "Go ahead kill me little girl there are worse gods than me in the Celtic pantheon and they will make sure we remain in power anyone who opposes us will die!

"Is that so?" Thrud snarled, "Well you won't be around to see it". She tore the White Lady's heart from her chest and crushed it in her hand. The souls of everyone she killed poured from the White Lady's body

Thrud fell back onto the blood covered snow and watched the soul's journey to their final resting place. Marcus walked up beside her, "Do you think I'm a monster?" She asked him gesturing to the mutilated body on the ground.

Marcus shook his head. "No, I think we're fighting a war and we are all going to have to do things we're not going to be proud of later."

Thrud nodded as she stood to her feet, "Well, now that the ways clear I think it's time we headed to Midgard."

Marcus nodded and together they set off towards Midgard. All of a sudden Thrud had the urge to look back over her shoulder. She looked back to see her mother smiling lovingly before floating into the sky. A single tear slid down her cheek, "Rest in peace mother." She whispers

"Are you alright?" Marcus asked when he noticed that she had stopped.

"Yeah I'm fine," Thrud said as she set off toward Midgard.

Marcus shook his head wondering what just happened and followed after.

They arrived at the massive ice dome that covered a large portion of the South Pole's coast just before nightfall.

Thrud walked up to the gate and placed her hand over the octagon carved in the center, the gate swung open and they walked inside.

They walk down the semi-empty streets. There were only a few shop owners out just closing up their shops before going home. They stopped what they were doing to waive at Thrud, happy to see her safe return.

Thrud smiled and waved back.

Marcus marveled at how much more relaxed she looked

Thrud led the way into the palace then into the throne room. Marcus stopped before the throne while Thrud went on to hug her grandfather.

Odin wrapped his muscular arms around Thrud's slender frame, "Ah my little lightning bug it fills me with joy to see you safe."

Thrud smiled at the familiar nickname and wrapped her arms around her grandfather's neck, enjoying the way his beard tickled her face, "Hi grandpa it's good to be home."

They stayed like that for a few minutes then separated and Odin turned to Marcus, "Prince Marcus per our agreement I will help you in your coming war against the Celts."

Marcus bowed low, "Thank you Lord Odin."

Thrud looked between the two, "Wait a minute were going to war?"

Odin looked at his granddaughter and nodded sadly, "Yes my dear we are. Each day we lose more and more territory to the Celts they must be stopped before they destroy us."

"Finally," Thrud said a note of relief in her voice.

Both men raised an eyebrow.

What? Thrud asked, "The Celtic have pushed us around long enough. I think it's time we got a little payback."

Marcus smiled liking Thrud's attitude, he turned to Odin, "There's one more thing I must ask of the Lord Odin."

Odin raised an eyebrow and Marcus took that as a signal to continue, "I request you to train me in the ways of Norse magic. The quest to save your granddaughters showed me I still have a lot to learn, and I'm going to need to be stronger if I'm going to survive this war."

Odin was silent for a moment then nodded, "Very well since you saved my granddaughter and managed to come back from the Celtic stronghold alive. You've proven to me that you're worthy to learn the Norse ways of magic. Thrud please show him to a room."

Thrud nodded and walked over to Marcus, together they began walking out of the throne room. As they left Thrud asked, "So you're a Prince?"

_**TGP**_

A cloaked figure stood over the mutilated body of White Lady, "So, the puppet mistress of the dead finally died herself. Don't worry my dear I still have use for you." The figure reached down and grabbed the white lady by her tattered cloak and disappeared in a swirl of shadows


	4. Chapter 4

12

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 4**_

It was a calm cool morning in Midgard. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, Phoenix is flew lazily through a sky streaked with orange, and unicorns grazed serenely in fields of tall grass, their silver mains sparkling in the morning light.

Marcus Le Fay slammed into the due covered ground with a grunt for the second time that morning. Thrud, Princess of Midgard, stood gazing down at him triumphantly with her hands on her hips, "Looks like I win again."

Marcus sat up and winced; he just knew he was going to have a new bruise in the morning, "It's not over yet." he said climbing to his feet. He stretched and sighed in relief as his back gave a satisfying crack.

Over the past year, the Norse had trained him and their way of magic. He learned: runes, earth, and wind magic along with so much more, but the thing he was most proud of learning was how to fight without magic. Which was how he ended up coming to this field with Thrud while the rest of Midgard was still asleep, he was eager to see if all his training had paid off.

During his time here in Midgard he and Thrud had grown close, which was going to make what he had to tell her all the harder. He shook his head free of those thoughts and charged forward.

Thrud watched Marcus charge forward and wondered what was wrong. He had been distant all morning and wouldn't meet her eye. Well if he wouldn't tell her what was wrong maybe she could beat it out of him, she squared her shoulders and her face became a mask of determination as she went to meet him.

As he drew closer to Thrud, Marcus coated his arm in wind magic and threw a punch.

Thrud tilted her head to the side and dodged Marcus's incoming punch. She winced as a thin cut appeared on her cheek. She looked at him impressed and nodded her approval, "Good you're learning to incorporate elemental magic into hand-to-hand combat."

Marcus gave her an appreciative smile, but Thrud could see the guilt in his eyes, "What's wrong?" She asked not being able to stand the remorse that radiated off him any longer.

Marcus's shoulder slumped and he sighed. He should've known he wouldn't be able to hide anything from Thrud for long. She was able to read him better than most. Sighing again, he gestured to the ground, "Have a seat we need to talk."

Thrud stomach clenched and a feeling of dread shot down her spine, she just knew whatever Marcus had to tell her wasn't going to be good. She waved her hand, conjuring a red cotton blanket then sat down. Marcus sat down beside her his gaze locked on the grass unable to meet her eyes.

He took a deep breath, and steeled his nerves for what he was about to say, "I've decided it's time for me to leave Midgard."

Thrud's eyes widened, "what?" She choked out unable to believe what she was hearing.

Marcus hurried to continue before he lost his nerve, "I have enjoyed my time here, and you have become my best friend, but every day I stay here more people are hurt by the Celts. The sooner I can rally the other pantheons against the Celts the sooner this war will be over and the world can find some semblance of peace again."

Thrud just sat there stunned not knowing what to think. Suddenly she stood up, "I have to go," she said then hurried away.

Marcus watched her go and sighed. He knew her well enough to know that she was going to find someplace to be alone and then let her emotions out. Shaking his head, he sunk into his shadow and disappeared.

_**TGP**_

He stepped out of the shadow of the dome that protected Midgard and shivered as the frigid air of the South Pole bit into his bare skin, he took a moment to coat his skin in a layer of fire magic. He then turned and made his way through the knee deep snow that covered the ground to stand before the gate guard.

He was a short stocky man dressed in white furs that blended in with the snow. He had a broad kind face covered in a thick bushy beard. He stood stiffly at attention, clutching a spear made of a Wales tooth. He turned as Marcus approached, "What are you doing here Marcus?"

Marcus stop before him and smiled, "Hey Cold Stone, I thought I would come relieve you, so you can go spend your anniversary with your wife." He said, having heard him complain to another guard about how he had to work on his anniversary.

"Really that'd be great," Cold Stone said with a wide smile spreading across his face. He had a special evening planned for his wife tonight, he had planned to take her on a romantic picnic to hear the Phoenix's sing, but that had all been ruined when the captain of the guard called him in for duty. He looked at Marcus with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you willing to take over my shift during this whether?" He asked gesturing to the thick wall of snow that was falling down around them.

Marcus averted his gaze and shifted uncomfortably, "I had to tell Thrud some bad news and now I need a quiet place to clear my head."

"Ah," Cold Stone said nodding sagely. He knew it was not an enjoyable experience when you had to give a woman bad news. "So would you like me to take over your shift," Marcus asked bringing his attention back to the matter at hand.

"Sure why not, my wife was really cross with me when I told her I had to work on our anniversary." He sent him a sly smile, "who knows if everything goes well I may end up getting lucky tonight he said letting out a boisterous laugh."

Marcus wrinkled his nose and shivered at the mental image that flashed through his mind, "I really did not need to hear that."

Cold Stone let out another booming laugh, before disappearing in a swirl of snow.

With a wave of his hand, Marcus formed a high-back chair out of the snow. He sat down, tucked his hands into his coat pocket, and stared out at the falling snow with unfocused eyes. He listened to the snow hiss as it evaporated off his magically heated body. He tried not to think about how much he hurt Thrud when he told her he was leaving, but as with most things when you try not to think about them they just keep popping into your head.

All he could think about was the hurt he had seen in Thrud's eyes and the stiffness in her back as she walked away. It was not like he wanted to leave, he liked it here in Midgard, and he likes spending time with Thrud. However, he couldn't sacrifice the lives of innocent people just because he was having a good time. He grabbed his hair and released to scream a frustration before slumping in his chair. Damn his desire to help others and his inability to be selfish.

_**TGP**_

Thrud sat on her bed staring out of her window at the clear blue sky while idly running her fingers across the golden torc nestled in her bosom. Marcus had given her the torc for her birthday. Marcus, just the thought of his name filled her with the feeling of betrayal. How could he leave her? Didn't he know he was the only one in Midgard that didn't treat her like she was made of glass?

Even being captain of the royal guard and one of the most skilled warriors in Midgard. People always wanted to protect her from any danger. Marcus was the only one in Midgard that treated her normally. When they would spar to sharpen their skills or go horseback riding it was the happiest she had ever been. Finally, she was able to forget all the pressures and responsibilities that came from being Princess of Midgard. She had gotten so used to his presence that Midgard would fill empty without him. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared, fine if he wanted to leave see if she cared. She ripped the torc from her neck and threw it across the room. It bounced off the wall and settled in a corner. She curled into a ball, held her pillow to her chest and began to cry.

**TGP**

The Morrigan, goddess of war and death, sat on the back of her giant crow. Her pale face was clouded with anger and her yellow eyes were narrowed against the heavy snow in her path. She pulled her cloak of crow feathers tighter around her spindly frame as she made her way to Midgard. As Midgard's humongous dome came into view, her fist clenched around a handful of large black feathers, causing the giant blackbird to squawk and pain.

She loosened her grip and rubbed the injured feathers to sooth the pain. Before turning her gaze back to the massive structure before her, just the site of it made her blood boil. They would pay for killing her sister.

When she was about a mile out she stood up and jumped from the back of her loyal familiar. She used magic to slow herself down just before hitting the ground, landing on the ground with a soft thump. She began making her way to the Norse stronghold with a smile on her face. Soon it would fall and then she would bathe in the blood of all those who dare to kill a member of her family and stand against the Celts.

_**TGP**_

Marcus was brought out of his depressing thoughts when he saw a black speck fall from the sky out of the corner of his eye. It hit the ground creating a small mushroom cloud of snow. He sat up straighter in his chair and opened his connection to nature. Releasing a small gasp, he could suddenly sense every living creature for a hundred miles.

As a Fay he had a naturally strong connection to nature. When he learned the four elemental magic's his connection grew stronger, making him faster and more powerful than he was before. After taking a minute to get his bearings, he concentrated on the spot where he had seen the black speck fall. Suddenly it was as if he was standing right there.

He observed a woman in a dark cloak made of black feathers rise from a small crater and start making her way towards Midgard. He launched a small mental probe at her to find out her intentions and reeled back in disgust. Her mind and aura stank of death and destruction, whoever this woman was she was definitely not coming to Midgard for a vacation.

He watched through his expanded senses as she drew closer. Snow began to gather on the strands of stringy black hair poking out from the hood of her cloak. When she was less than five feet away he broke his connection and stood to his feet. Up close the woman was so pale that if she hadn't been wearing the dark cloak she would've blended into the snow around her. He stared determinedly into her yellow eyes, "Who are you and what is your purpose here in Midgard?"

The Morrigan's eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched, and her hands balled into fists at her sides. She didn't have time to waste on a lowly gate guard. With a wave of her hand, she summoned all those who died in this frozen wasteland.

Specters with blue skin, wearing a variety of different of furs rose from the ground and awaited the Morrigan's command.

The Morrigan inspected her ghostly warriors with a critical eye, nodding her approval she waved her hand and sent them charging forward with supernatural speed.

Marcus watched as the ghost charge towards him, their pale ghostly hands transformed into razor-sharp claws. He dodged the first wave and slipped his hand inside his pockets, searching for anything that could destroy the ghost, but cursed when he found them empty.

He winced as a ghost razor-sharp claws tore into his shoulder. He looked down at his shoulder, the cut wasn't bad, but a steady stream of blood flowed from it. Shaking his head, He used wind magic to launch himself into the air wanting to avoid the cut to ribbons. He hovered untouched above the ghostly Army and wondered why they just didn't float up after him, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He stared down at the ghost and wondered what to do next. If he didn't have anything with him that could ward off or disrupt the ghost connection to that strange woman. Then he would have to get rid of the ghost at the source.

He closed his eyes and re-opened his connection to nature. He concentrated on finding the bodies that belong to the ghost. Soon he began to see dots of light decorate the frozen tundra in his mind's eye. Concentrating on those locations, he summoned thick black storm clouds that settled over the frozen desert. Lightning flashed through the clouds, before stabbing down from the sky to destroy the bodies buried deep beneath the ice.

The ghost howled and burst into blue flames as the bodies were destroyed.

The Morrigan looked on impressed that this boy had dispatched her ghosts so easily. While she was distracted, Marcus swept his hand through the air.

The ground began to shake and the snow bucked and heaved as green vines as thick as human torso shot out of the frozen earth to wrap around the Morrigan.

The Morrigan stood still and let this happen confident that she would be able to escape if she so chose. Soon her body was covered in vines, she watched as the boy floated to the ground. He stretched forth his hand and her arms sprang out as if she was on a cross. With a flick of his wrist the vines wrapped around her became the trunk and branches of a tree, with her face sticking out of the trunk like a piece of oddly shaped, oddly colored tree bark. She winced as she felt a tiny roots borough into her skin and began to feed off her magic. Lush green leaves emerge from the top of the tree and sprouted from the branches that used to be her arms. Despite her situation, she let out a low chuckle. "Impressive bit of magic boy, tell me what is your name?"

Marcus looked at her suspiciously; she was way too calm for his liking, "My name is Marcus Le Fay. Now who are you, and what is your purpose here in Midgard."

The Morrigan smiled, "My name is Morrigan, I am the goddess of death and war, top general in the Celtic army, and I have come to destroy Midgard for killing my sister."

"Who is your sister?" Marcus asked, but fearing he already knew the answer.

"My sister was the White Lady, and I will kill the Princess of Midgard for taking her away from me."

Marcus fists clenched and magic radiated off his body at the thought of Thrud being hurt, "That is not going to happen!" He declared firmly.

The Morrigan released a high cold laugh with the touch of insanity, "Do you think you can stop me?" She asked incredulously, she flexed her arms and the trees she was trapped in exploded into wooden shrapnel. In the blink of an eye, she appeared before him and slammed her bony fist into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards. Steam rose up off the snow as it came into contact with his heated body.

Marcus rose to his feet, wincing as pain shot through his arm. He looked down and saw his left arm hanging limply at his side. He thrust his right arm forward, lightning stab down from the dark clouds that still lingered overhead and slammed into Morrigan's chest, sending her soaring through the air. She slammed into the ground and rolled to a stop twenty feet away.

Marcus grabbed his left shoulder and released an agonizing scream of pain as he wrenched it back into its socket.

_**TGP**_

Thrud lay topless on her bedroom floor wearing nothing but a pair of red pants. She was in the process of doing stomach crunches to help keep her mind off Marcus. Sweat rolled down her impressive bosom to drip onto her crossed arms. She had just finished her last set and was in the process of slipping her shirt on when an excruciating scream echoed throughout the room.

She jumped getting tangled in her shirt. After struggling for a minute, she pulled it over her head, and turned in the direction of the scream. She saw the golden torc was glowing brightly in a corner of the room. Cautiously, she walked over and knelt down beside it. She stretched out a tentative hand and poked it with a finger. Suddenly, the torc jumped up and clasp around her neck, and she disappeared in a golden flash.

_**TGP**_

She appeared outside Midgard's dome and shivered as the South Pole's freezing winds chilled her to the bone. With a thought, the seamless golden armor spread across her body in seconds. She sighed in relief as she was sealed off from the unbearable cold. She looked around through her featureless golden mask and saw Marcus standing a few feet away from a mysterious woman in black robes. She hurried over to him, "Marcus what's going on?"

Marcus turned to her in surprise, "Thrud what are you doing here?"

"I don't know one minute I'm in my room and the torc starts screaming. The next thing I know I'm out here freezing my butt off."

Marcus looked confused for a moment then comprehension dawned in his eyes, "The torc has some of my magic inside it, it must've alerted you that I was in trouble," He shook his head, "Anyways you need to get out of here." He said turning back to the strange woman.

Thrud narrowed her eyes, "Why?"

Marcus sighed, why couldn't she ever listen to him, "This woman is after you for killing her sister."

Thrud looked at him behind her featureless mask, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, "Who is this woman, and who was her sister?"

Marcus looked at her his eyes hard his mouth set in a grim line, "This woman is the Morrigan, goddess of war and death, and her sister was the White Lady."

Thrud's fist clenched and she looked away. She had always felt guilty about torturing the White Lady. Now it appears her past actions had come back to haunt her.

She looked at Marcus, "I'm not letting you fight a war goddess alone."

Marcus took in her determined stance and sighed; he knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind, "Fine just be careful."

Thrud smiled, "Always," she said turning to face the Morrigan, "so what's the plan?"

Marcus looked at her, "Can you keep her preoccupied while I think of a more permanent solution?"

Thrud smiled behind her featureless mask, she could use someone to take her anger out on, "Sure." She charged forward at incredible speeds, her already superhuman speed boosted by the power of her armor.

Marcus watched her go worry heavy in his eyes, he knew he needed to hurry and think of a way to defeat the Morrigan. As powerful as he and Thrud were they were no match for a war goddess with century's worth of experience. Shaking his head, he floated high into the air above the frozen tundra and watched as Thrud closed in on the Morrigan.

_**TGP**_

As Thrud drew closer to the Morrigan, she focused lightning in her right arm and threw a devastating punch toward the war goddess's head.

The Morrigan rose to her feet and looked at the hole in her robes left by the lightning to the chest. There was a hole in between the Valley of her breasts going straight through her body, she knew such a wound would have killed anyone else, but she had had worse wounds over the centuries, it would heal eventually. Shaking her head she rearranged her robes to cover the hole and looked up just in time for Thrud's lightning covered fist to slam into her face. She bounced along the ground creating a trench in the deep snow.

Thrud walked towards the Morrigan, watching as she rose to her feet. She was amazed that one person could take so much punishment. She turned to her with blood streaming from her broken nose and smiled.

"So, the boy called in some help, no matter it still won't be enough to beat me." She waved her hand. Pale creatures with long fangs and red eyes rose from the ground in charge towards Thrud.

Thrud concentrated and the lower half of her arms turned into golden blades. She then went to meet her new enemy. As she closed in on the first creature, she swung her left arm around and separated the creatures head from its body. The moment its head left its body the creature turned to dust.

She turned to the Morrigan with a raised eyebrow behind her mask, "Vampires, really?"

The Morrigan shrugged nostalgically, "I have a thing for the classics."

Thrud charged towards the creatures of the night and began hacking and slashing. In minutes, she was surrounded by piles of ash. She turned around just in time for the Morrigan to grab her by the throat and toss her through the air. She slammed into the dome that surrounded Midgard hard enough to crack the ancient ice; she slid down the dome and settled on the ground in a heap.

_**TGP**_

Marcus watched Thrud slam into the dome and desperately tried to think of a way to stop the Morrigan, but every plan he came up with seem doomed to fail. Then he remembered something his mother told him during his training. How his ancient ancestors used to trap their enemies in lay lines and let the natural current of the lay lines wear away their power. He just hoped he could do it, he had yet to use runes and such a complicated manner since learning the art.

Using his connection to nature, he searched out the strongest lay line in the area. Once he found it he floated over to hover above it. He stretched forth his hand and shot beams of pure magic from his fingers to carve circles of intricate runes deep into the snow-covered ground directly above the lay line.

_**TGP**_

The Morrigan stood before Thrud looking down at her, "You know, it's a shame I have to kill you. You could've been of great use to the Celtic army."

Thrud shook her head the armor had taken most of the impact with the dome, but she still had a major headache. She rose shakily to her feet, ignoring the pain in her head and turned to face the Morrigan. She willed her mask to disappear, so the Morrigan could see her face.

Morrigan stumbled backwards her yellow eyes open wide, she pointed a shaky finger at her, "You, you're the one that killed my sister."

Thrud smiled darkly, "That's right. I finally got to pay that monster back for killing my mother."

The Morrigan released to scream of rage and lunged forward, her hands twisted into claws.

Thrud rolled out of the way and the Morrigan slammed into the dome. She sprang to her feet and grabbed the Morrigan by the head and began slamming her head repeatedly into the dome. Blood began to appear in the spot the Morrigan's head struck. With one final impact to the dome, she grinded the Morrigan's face into the ice then allowed her body to fall to the ground. She looked over her shoulder to where Marcus was hovering in the air, "Are you almost finished."

Marcus looked at her as he finished carving the final runes, beads of sweat ran down his face, "Almost." After carving the final rune, he took a moment to make sure everything was perfect. The spell consisted of seven massive circles of runes growing smaller towards the center. Nodding to himself, he turned to Thrud, "Alright it's ready."

Thrud nodded and turned back to the Morrigan only to find her gone. On instinct, she spun around to find the Morgan standing behind her, her nose was broken and her face was covered in blood. She thrust her fist forward intent on cleaving the Morrigan's head off.

The Morrigan caught her outstretched arm and through her across the frozen tundra.

Thrud sprang to her feet and launched herself at the Morrigan. She slammed into the Morrigan knocking her to the ground. For the next few minutes, they struggled on the ground, each trying to gain the upper hand over the other. Thrud pin the Morgan to the ground with her body.

The Morrigan struggled to place her hand flat against Thrud's armor chest. She fired a black wave of death magic into Thrud's chest, launching her into the sky. She then looked up into the sky, "Crow come assist your mistress."

An earsplitting cry rent the air as a giant blackbird flew down to hover near the Morrigan. The Morrigan climbed onto the massive crows back. "After the girl," she cried pointing in the direction Thrud had flown.

The crow released another earsplitting cry then lifted into the air and shot off after the Norse Princess.

As Thrud soared into the air, she caught sight of the large circles of runes Marcus had carved into the ground. She smiled behind her mask as an idea formed in her mind. She waited until she began to fall then concentrated; thin golden cords shot out of her back and wove into a parachute. Her body jerked as her parachute caught the wind, and she slowly began steering herself towards the runes. A shrill cry drew her attention; she turned and saw the Morrigan speeding towards her on the back of a humongous crow.

She watched helplessly as the Morrigan prepared to slam into her, her body tensed as she braced for impact, but just before the giant bird slammed into her. White bandages wrapped around it, pinning its wings to its sides and the Morrigan to its back. Thrud looked up to see Marcus hovering a few feet above her white bandages flowing from his coat. He caught her eye and smiled, "Sorry I'm late."

Thrud smiled, "Better late than never."

Their moment was broken when the Morrigan screamed and began to struggle. Small tears began to appear in the bandages.

Marcus pulled the bandages tighter trapping the Morrigan to the back of her fowl. His arms ached as he struggled to withstand the weight of the massive bird. He muttered a few special words and the excess bandages were severed from the folds of his coat and wrapped around the feathered familiar. Keeping the Morrigan and her pet suspended in the air with his will, Marcus stretched forth his hand and muttered a few more special words. Silver chains with Norse runes carved into them flew out of his palm and wrapped around the bandaged crow. The chains glowed, and the Morrigan's struggles ceased.

Marcus looked at Thrud, she had traded in her golden parachute for a pair of golden wings, "Can you help me get the Morrigan inside the circle of runes?"

"Sure," she said moving over to grab one of the silver chains wrapped around the crow's massive body. Together they slowly descended to the ground. They placed the Morrigan and her giant familiar in the center of the runes.

The Morrigan glared hatefully at them from her place on the crows back, "No matter what you do to me I will be freed, and then I will destroy Midgard. My sister's death must be avenged"

Thrud stepped forward, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for killing your sister." The Morrigan spit at her, she sighed and turned to Marcus, "do it."

Marcus nodded and pointed his finger at the Morrigan. He muttered the activating word and the circle of runes glowed gold. The Morgan and her familiar began to sink into the ground; she glared hatefully at them all the way.

After the Morrigan disappeared beneath the runes, they waited a moment to make sure the spell would hold. When nothing happened they both sighed in relief.

No longer needing the extra power, Marcus cut his connection to nature. He fell forward and would have hit the ground if Thrud hadn't been there to catch him. "Thanks," he muttered. He didn't realize how much power he had been drawing from nature.

"No problem," Thrud muttered. She threw his arm over her shoulder while wrapping one of hers around his waist. Together they began walking back towards Midgard.

"I'm impressed with the way you use the armor."

"Thanks, I've been practicing."

"Listen," Marcus said breaking the silence that had fallen between them, "I'm sorry I have to leave."

"It's fine," Thrud said. The battle with the Morrigan made her realize the Celts need to be stopped, but it didn't mean she wasn't sad to see her him leave. Suddenly she thought of something, and a smile made its way to her face, "Hey Marcus."

"Yeah?"

"I've decided to go with you when you leave."

Marcus's head snapped towards her, "What, you can't it's too dangerous."

Thrud glared at him, "Excuse me, I just went toe to toe with a war goddess, I think I can handle myself."

Marcus glared right back at her, "That was different. She was clouded by her rage, if she had been thinking clearly you wouldn't have stood a chance."

Thrud faced straight-ahead," I'm going with you and that's final. I'm not letting you go on such a dangerous quest alone."

Marcus sighed. It was impossible to change her mind once it was made up, she was going with him, so he might as well accept it.

They walked into the dome and down the empty streets. It was late evening and most of the shops had already closed. The few people still out where just closing up their stalls before going home, they gave the pair odd look as Thrud helped Marcus down the street.

Marcus suppressed his exhaustion and smiled, "Just a rough day of training."

The people nodded and laughed having heard something similar before and went back about their business.

They entered the palace. The Entrance Hall was dark with only the light of the torches to lead the way to the throne room. Marcus pushed open the door to the throne room, and they went inside.

The torches held by the statues of the past Kings, and the light from the silver chandeliers hanging from the rafters above them did little to beat back the darkness leaving the room immersed in shadow.

Odin sat on his throne illuminated by bowls of white fire set off to either side, "What happened?" He asked as Marcus and Thrud stop before him, and he took in their tired faces.

"The Morrigan tried to break into Midgard," Thrud answered.

Odin waved his staff and two chairs appeared behind them. The exhausted duo sagged into them with a sigh of relief.

"Tell me everything," Odin demanded.

For the next hour, Marcus and Thrud told Odin everything that happened outside the dome. When they had finished, Odin sagged in his chair his face full of heavy lines, "I have failed."

Thrud and Marcus shared a look. Thrud rose from her chair and went over to hug her grandfather, "No, you haven't. There's no possible way you could have known that the Morgan was going to attack."

"That's just it," Odin said shaking his head, "when I was younger I could sense trouble before it ever reached Midgard. Now I'm lucky to sense it if it's right outside the dome." He looked at Thrud, "I think it's time I retire."

Thrud's mouth fell open, "What? You can't Midgard needs you. "

Odin smiled and patted her hand, "I appreciate that my dear, but Midgard needs a young, strong King"

"But you are strong," said Thrud in a small voice. She couldn't imagine her grandfather not being King.

"I am strong," Odin agreed, "but a lot of my power has withered with age. That is why in two weeks' time I will announce my successor."

_**TGP**_

After Marcus and Thrud left to talk to Odin, a cloaked figure appeared near the Morrigan's prison. He knelt down beside the circles and stretched forth a hand to trace the closest runes with a finger. Electricity snapped off the runes, and he jerked his hand back. He looked quizzically at the singed digit, "A testament to Fay magic." He said to himself standing to his feet. He stretched forth his hands and shot green lightning into the circles.

He couldn't free the Morrigan, but he could gather the portion of her power that had already been sheared off by the flow of the lay line. Dark purple energy emerged from the circle. The figure cut off the lightning and reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small crystal ball, the dark energy was pulled inside the crystal ball. The ball pulsed with a faint purple light. Nodding to himself, the figure tucked the orb back into his pocket and disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

14

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 5**_

The sun shined brightly in the clear blue sky over Midgard. A gentle breeze filled with the scents of rich earth and wildflowers danced through the trees and fields of tall grass. It ruffled the people's hair as they gathered around the palace, eager to hear who the new king was going to be.

Marcus Le Fay stood at the back of the crowd, his hand shoved deep into the pockets of his new trench coat, so he wouldn't run a hand through his new shorthair. After the battle with the Morrigan, he decided to make some changes. He cut his hair so it couldn't be grabbed and battle and had a new trench coat made from Dragon hide with many hidden pockets.

Dragon hide was one of the most magically resistant materials in the known world. It would offer him some protection in battle and the hidden pockets would make sure he never went into battle without a weapon again.

Marcus stared up at the palace roof, Where Thrud stood with the rest of her family. She looked stunning in a white gown with a silver rope wrapped around her waist. Her short blonde hair was cut so it just brushed her shoulders and her blue eyes held a look of annoyance that made him smile. He knew she hated to dress up and that she only did it because it was her grandfather's last day as King.

Over the past two weeks, he had repeatedly tried to talk her out of going with him on his quest to recruit more godly pantheons for the war, but the more he tried to talk her out of coming with him the more she insisted on coming, so in the end he gave up and told her that she could come along as long as she was the one that told her father.

He had hoped the ultimatum would discourage her from coming, he knew how protective her father was of his little girl. However, to his shock she readily agreed. Resigning himself to the fact that she was coming with him, the Fay Prince spent the rest of his time in one of Midgard's many forges designing weapons and items of power that would protect them on their quest.

_**TGP**_

Odin sat in his Golden throne atop his Palace surrounded by his family. He stared out at the people gathered around his home and wondered what it would be like to walk among them when he wasn't King anymore. Smiling, he turned to look at his two sons, Loki and Thor, by the end of the day one of them would be King.

Loki was tall, lean with a narrow face and pale blue skin. His orange eyes burned like fire beneath his dark green cloak and a crystal chest plate glinted when it caught the sun. He spent most of his time traveling the world learning new and dangerous magic's for the safety of Midgard.

Nodding to Loki, Odin turned to his eldest son Thor.

Thor was tall, broad shouldered, and barrel chested. His face was heavily tanned from spending a lot of time outside. His short red hair swayed in the wind, and his green eyes were filled with love and compassion as he stared down at the people of Midgard. After losing his wife to the Celts, Thor dedicated himself to protecting Midgard and training his daughter, so he would never have to feel the pain of losing anyone again.

When he found out that Thrud had been captured by the Celts, he almost stormed their stronghold to get his daughter back. The only thing that stopped him was his father telling him that they had likely warded their stronghold against the Norse, and he was liable to get his daughter killed if he tried. He was forever grateful to Marcus for rescuing his little girl.

After getting his daughter back, Thor patrolled the borders of Midgard, so something like that could never happen again and just maybe he was hoping to catch a few Celtic gods, so he could extract a small amount of revenge for killing his wife and daring to threaten his little girl.

With a proud smile, the old King rose to his feet, stepped forward, and placed both hands on the railing that surrounded the roof. The chattering crowd fell silent and dropped to one knee, waiting to be addressed by their King, "People of Midgard, I stand before you today not a king, but a proud father. For, it is not every day that a father gets to name one of his sons King." He turned to smile at his sons before turning back to the crowd, "either one of them would make a great King, but there is only one I feel has the experience needed to be King and that person is… Thor.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Thor stepped forward.

Thor raised his hand and the crowd fell silent, "People of Midgard I view each and every one of you as family, and I promise as long as I am King no harm shall ever come to you."

The crowd cheered and began to chant, "Long live Thor, long live Thor."

Loki watched all of this his face an impassive mask, but on the inside he was seething. How dare father make Thor King, I'm the one that risked my life traveling the world looking for magic that could be used against us while Thor stayed safely within our borders. I should be King he thought as he looked at Thor smiling face as he looked out over the crowd. Well, if I can't rule Midgard then I will see it destroyed. With that thought, he began to plan Midgard's fall.

_**TGP**_

A few hours later, Thor, Loki, Marcus, and Thrud gathered in the throne room. Thor set on the golden throne; it was surreal sitting in a seat that his father had occupied for so long. He still couldn't believe he was King. When his father made him king he could suddenly sense everything within the Norse territory, he all of a sudden had control over all of Midgard's defenses. It was a lot of power to have dropped in your lap. He just hoped he used it well. He stared down at Marcus and Thrud and both instantly drop to their knees before the throne. Thor sighed, he never was one for formalities and now everyone was going to be bowing to him, this was going to take a lot of getting used to. Shaking his head he waved his hand dismissively, "Rise there's no need for that."

Marcus and Thrud rose to their feet and stood stiffly before the throne.

Thor sighed again, "You know you can relax."

The duo's shoulder sagged as they took a relaxed stance before the throne.

Thor smiled, "That's better, now Thrud said that the both of you needed an audience with me."

Marcus and Thrud looked at each other. Before coming to the throne room Thrud had cornered Marcus in the hall and told him today was the day she was going to tell her Father that she was going with him on his quest.

Marcus once again tried to talk her out of coming with him, but she was adamant about her decision, so he reminded her that she could come as long as she was the one that told her father.

Taking a deep breath, Thrud stepped forward and looked her father square in the eye, while trying to quell the nervousness that suddenly filled her stomach, "Father, Marcus feels it's time for him to leave Midgard to head to another pantheon, and I would like to go with him."

Silence filled the throne room. Thor looked at Marcus, Could you leave please? I would like to have a talk with my daughter"."

Marcus nodded, bowed once at the waste, and swiftly left the throne room, his footsteps echoing loudly off the marble floor in the heavy silence.

Once Marcus was gone, Thor looked at his daughter, "Why do you want to do this?"

Thrud swallowed hard and took a deep breath. This was so much easier in her head. She squared her shoulders and looked her father square in the eye, "Too long have the Celts been terrorizing this world. Marcus has a plan to bring them down, and I want to be a part of that."

Thor looked at her steadily, "Does this have anything to do with your mother's death?"

Thrud looked away, "Maybe a little," she muttered.

Thor looked at his daughter while rubbing his chin his eyebrows knitted together in thought. He really didn't want her out of his sight, but the Morrigan's recent attack on Midgard prove that Midgard wasn't safe anymore, and it wasn't like anyone was going to know where they were headed. Coming to a decision, he nodded, "Alright, you can go."

Thrud beamed happily at her father, "Thank You father." She turned and began making her way out of the throne room. Just before she left the room, Thor called out to her, "Next time you want to spend some alone time with your boyfriend just ask."

Thrud froze and her ears burned bright red, but she didn't dignify her father with a response. After taking a moment to get herself back under control, she stomped out of the throne room radiating embarrassment.

Thor burst out laughing at his daughter's reaction and collapsed into his throne. He wiped a tear from his eye, "Now that was funny." He said in between chuckles as he turned to his brother.

"Yes quite," Loki said dryly. After giving his brother a moment to get over his laughter he spoke, "listen brother, I've heard that a small village in the Far East has developed a new type of magic. I would like to go investigate and see if it is a threat to us."

The smile left Thor's face replaced by a serious frown, "Are you sure? The East is awfully far away, and they have never attacked us before. I don't see why they would start now."

"You can never be too careful," Loki reminded him, "my contacts have never lied to me before and they say this magic may be a threat to Midgard."

Thor nodded stiffly, "Alright brother, you have protected Midgard from many threats. I trust your judgment go and be safe. I will see you when you return."

Loki nodded, "Thank you brother." He stepped down from the raised dais that the throne sat on and made his way out of the throne room. As he left a dark smile crossed his face, he was one step closer to destroying Midgard and from its ashes he would build a new kingdom, one built in his image.

_**TGP**_

In the early morning well before sunrise, Marcus and Thrud stepped out of the dome that covered Midgard and into the heavy snow that the South Pole was known for.

Marcus shivered as subzero winds brushed against his bare skin and snow began to cling to his hair. With a muttered word, he coated his body in a layer of fire magic, he sighed in relief as the chill was chased from his body. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a miniature silver sleigh being pulled by three matching silver polar bears. He set it on the ground and snapped his fingers and it grew to life-size. After taking a moment to make sure everything was in order, he and Thrud began to load there bags into the sleigh.

While loading the sleigh, Marcus thought back to a conversation he had with Thor when he and Thrud said their goodbyes.

_**TGP**_

Thrud had just finished telling her father goodbye and left to go finish packing her things.

Thor had asked Marcus to stay behind. He sat stiffly on his throne staring at Marcus with hard eyes.

Marcus could feel the tension in the air; he stood there his muscles wound tight as he waited for something to happen. Finally, Thor spoke.

"I am entrusting you with my daughter safety. If anything happens to her." he made a gesture with his hands and rings of lightning appeared around Marcus.

Marcus could feel the heat of the rings on his skin and smell burning hair.

"I will hold you personally responsible. Do we understand each other?"

Now Marcus didn't scare easily, but a concerned father that could barbecue him from a distance unnerved him a little. He nodded slowly, being careful not to touch the rings floating millimeters from his skin. It wasn't like he was going to let any harm come to Thrud he cared about her too much.

Suddenly the tension was gone, the rings vanished from his body, and Thor smiled broadly, "Good, now, there is a shipyard at the edge of the Norse territory. When you first arrived in Midgard my father foresaw that you would need a ship, so he had one constructed with everything you would need for your quest."

Marcus nodded; he didn't bother asking how Odin knew he would need a ship. He had heard from the people of Midgard that Odin could see the future. "Thank you Lord Thor," he bowed then turned and began walking out of the room. Just before he passed through the doors, Thor called out, "Remember my warning."

Marcus glanced back over his shoulder to see Thor giving him a stern glare that promised pain if he failed. He nodded stiffly and left the throne room.

_**TGP**_

Marcus was brought back to reality by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Thrud looking at him, her brow was furrowed in her eye brows were knitted together and worry, "Are you alright?" She asked.

Marcus shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled at her, "Yeah, let's go." He climbed into the sleigh. Thrud walked around the sleigh and climbed in beside him. With a muttered word, the polar bears released a mighty roar and reared up on their hind legs before slamming back down and charging across the frozen tundra.

_**TGP**_

As the polar bears sped across the snow and ice, Thrud looked out of the sleigh at the snowcapped mountains as they zipped past her. She bit the inside of her cheek the closer they came to the shipyard and leaving Midgard, the more nervous she became. She wanted to see the world and help Marcus defeat the Celts, but she had never gone as far from home as she was about to go.

Greece was at least a few thousand leagues away, a good four months travel even in the fastest ship. She was brought out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Marcus looking at her with knowing eyes.

"You know you don't have to go with me." He said having to shout to be heard over the blizzard winds that swirled around them.

Thrud's gaze hardened, her jaw clenched, and her lips formed into a thin line, "No, I won't let a little thing like being nervous stop me from helping you defeat the Celts. This quest is too dangerous for you to do it alone."

Marcus smiled as much as he tried to talk Thrud out of going with him. He was relieved to know that someone he trusted was going to be there to watch his back. He slipped his hand into hers and gave it a firm squeeze, "Whatever dangers are to come on this journey we'll face them together."

Thrud's tight lips gave way to a smile and the tension drained from her body. Marcus was right is long as they stuck together nothing could stop them. She gave Marcus's hand a gentle squeeze and faced straight ahead ready to face the unknown.

The storm had tapered off and the sun was high in the sky by the time the polar bears stopped before a sixty foot tall stone wall with a large iron gate in the center. They could just make out the mast of ships peeking over the top of the gate.

Thrud stepped down from the sleigh and shook the snow off her fur coat, the golden torc around her neck glinted as it caught the sunlight. She stepped forward with Marcus trailing behind her and grabbed the iron knocker on the gates. She knocked twice before backing away.

A few minutes later, the gates opened to reveal a short stocky man with brown hair and sea green eyes. When he saw who it was a smile split his suntanned face, "Thrud, is that you?"

Thrud stepped forward and hug the man being careful not to trail on his blue robes, "Egir, how are you?"

"I'm fine my dear just working on some of my babies." He answered before turning his gaze to Marcus, "and who is this?"

Thrud stepped back and smiled "This is Marcus." She turned to Marcus and gestured to Llyr, "Marcus, this is Egir, god of the sea. If there's any man who has a boat that can get us to Greece it's him."

Marcus nodded and step forward, the two men eyed each other for a moment before smiling and shaking hands. Egir's firm grip and rough hands let Marcus know this man spent a lot of time doing hard labor.

Egir turned to Thrud with a wide smile on his square jawed face, "I like this one I'm glad you finally found yourself a boyfriend."

Both royal heirs blushed bright red, "He's not my boyfriend." Thrud stuttered while shaking her head.

Egir eyed her in disbelieve before shrugging, "If you say so. Now what can I do for you?"

Before Thrud could answer Marcus stepped forward, "Lord Thor told me that Lord Odin commissioned a bow for us."

Thrud turned to Marcus, "Father didn't mention anything about it to me."

Marcus turned to her with this sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, your father told me about it when he held me back this morning."

A smirk made its way onto Thrud's face, "You mean when my father was threatening you not to let anything happen to me."

Marcus stared at her eyes wide and mouth hanging open in disbelief, "How did you know?"

Thrud shrugged carelessly, "I'm a woman we know these things."

"You were spying weren't you?" Marcus said pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Was not."

"Were to."

This went on for several minutes. Finally, Egir cleared his throat, "If you two are done flirting maybe I can show you your ship."

Both Marcus and Thrud blushed and bowed their heads, "Sorry" they mumbled.

Egir waved a hand dismissively, "its fine, now if you don't mind I suggest we take your sleigh it's quite a long walk to your ship."

Marcus nodded and they all climbed into the sleigh. With a muttered word and the silver polar bears roared and tried it through the gates.

As the bears trotted through the gate, Marcus found himself on a large dock fifty feet wide and extending a hundred feet into the ocean. A variety of ships lined either side of the dock, everything from small fishing vessels with nets hanging over their sides to large battleships with gleaming cannons poking out of wooden slats.

"Beautiful aren't they?"

Marcus turned to see Egir staring at him, he looked out at the ships lining the dock, "These ships are my children each one is unique with its own special abilities."

Marcus nodded, "So, which one do we get?" He asked eagerly looking at a particularly large warship.

Egir chuckled. "Lord Odin commissioned a special ship for you built for speed and defense. Ah, hear we are," he said.

Marcus pulled the sleigh to a stop and they all climbed down.

Egir helped Marcus and Thrud unload their bags.

With a wave of his hand, Marcus shrunk the bags and the sleigh down before slipping both into an inner pocket of his trench coat.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Thrud asked when she saw Marcus shrink the bags.

Marcus shrugged, "Didn't think about it."

Thrud sighed and shook her head. Marcus may have been her best friend and a master of magic, but sometimes he lacked common sense. She turned to Llyr, "So, where's this ship?"

"This way," Egir led them over to a ship with a sleek narrow hull with a sharp bow. Its three masts stood twenty stories tall, the three sails on each mast flapped lazily in the wind coming off the sea.

"This is a Clipper ship," Egir said grandly, "it has everything you're going to need for your quest: a bathroom a workshop, a small library, and two bedrooms. However," he said looking at Marcus and Thrud slyly", if you would like to share a room it wouldn't take me but a few minutes to convert the second bedroom into something else maybe I can make the kitchen a bit bigger."

Marcus and Thrud turned bright red, "would you stop trying to set us up!"

Egir raised his hands in surrender, "your right I should let you come together in your own time."

Thrud opened her mouth to protest more her cheek still bright red, but Marcus cut her off.

"How did you fit all that inside this ship it doesn't look very big?"

Egir waved his finger back and forth in a scolding manner, "Ah, ah, ah, a magician never reveals his secrets"

A comfortable silence fell between them. It was finally broken by Marcus, "I think it's time we took our leave."

Egir nodded and step forward, he pulled Thrud into a tight hug, "You be careful out there."

"I will," Thrud replied returning the hug.

Egir released her and clasp Marcus's hand tightly, "You take care of her, you hear."

"You don't even have to ask," Marcus replied smiling.

"Good," Egir released his hand.

Marcus turned to Thrud, "You ready?"

Thrud nodded and together they boarded the ship ready to set off into the unknown.

As Egir watched the ship sail away he smiled, "Those two will change the world I know it."

_**TGP**_

Loki strode down the dirt road that led to the Celtic stronghold, his dark cloak blended in perfectly with the night. He could see his destination in the distance.

It was a massive square structure with a tower on each side; great stone bridges connected each tower. A Triquetra, the Celtic symbol of protection, made of blue fire hovered above each tower, outlining the Castle and a florescent blue barrier. He could see archers lining the bridge that faced the dirt road.

He smiled he was hoping to have a little bit of fun. Suddenly, a volley of flaming arrows rained down from the sky. He raised his hand lazily and the arrows froze in mid fall. He snapped his fingers, and the arrows rotated to face back the way they came. He tilted his wrist forward and they flew towards the home of the mortal's enemy.

Screams filled the air as the archers fell off the bridge, and their flaming bodies bounced on the thick stone walls of the massive castle.

Whistling, Loki finished making his way to the Celtic stronghold. He stopped before a massive set of double doors and frowned. This deep inside Celtic territory his magic felt weaker. He would have to be careful once he entered the Celts domain. Bracing himself, he pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

Lights flipped on from somewhere high above him as Loki stepped into the Entrance Hall, and a horrible smell filled his nose, he looked around bodies were nailed to the wall inside pentagrams painted in blood.

They all had different marks of torture on their bodies, but most it been cut open so that their organs and other bodily fluids fell onto the floor in thick piles.

By the horrible looks on their mummified faces, Loki could tell they had all been alive when the torture started. He looked on the site intrigued, he at her at the power that suffering could generate, but never imagined that this is what gave the Celts some of their awesome power. He decided when he became king that he would indulge in the art of torture, and see its magnificent power for himself.

Shaking his head, he made his way to the single hallway at the far end of the room.

As he journeyed down the hallway, big blocky golems suddenly emerge from the thick stone walls. He thrust his hand forward and an invisible force slammed into the earthly constructs, making them stumbled backwards. He scowled that should have shattered them; his power must've been weakened more than he realized.

Looks like he was going to have to be a bit more creative, he focused magic into his vocal cords and opened his mouth. A high-pitched screech tore from his throat and filled the hallway.

It slammed into the stone warriors causing them to shake and shutter. He kept this up for a few minutes finally they collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Nodding to himself, Loki continued walking. He stepped into an intersection before he could decide which way to go a shadow moved behind him, and he felt a blade press into his back.

"Who are you?" A voice growled.

"You know," Loki began ignoring the question, "you really shouldn't stand so close to someone it makes it really easy to do this." Before his would-be assailant had a chance to react, he spun around and punched him in the head with enough force to send him flying backwards.

The short stocky armored figure flew into the wall with enough force to crack the thick stone. He slid down the wall to settle on the floor in a crumpled heap and did not rise.

Loki walked over to the armored man, knelt down, and removed his helmet. To reveal a heavily bearded face with a squat nose and eyes that were too close together.

He pressed his fingers to the man's four head and skim through the man's mind to find out way to the Celtic King. Only to discover that the Celts didn't have a King they had a ruling Council that made all the decisions. Apparently none of the Celts could agree on who should be King, so the strongest in the Celtic pantheon sat on a Council that made all the decisions.

Having the information he needed, Loki withdrew his hand and stood up. He looked down at the unconscious man; he couldn't leave him alive he might alert more guards. So with a wave, he tore the man's life force from his body.

The armored man's body withered and died within a moment, leaving nothing behind, but a skeleton wearing armor. Nodding to himself, Loki took the sword from the skeletons hand. He then set out in the direction of the Council Chamber.

As Loki drew closer to the Council Chamber he passed more bodies nailed to the wall. These were younger, they appear to be in their late teens and from the way their wounds still dripped blood it didn't look like they had been here long. Suddenly, their mouths opened and purple tentacle shot out and wrapped around him. He groaned as he felt what little magic he had leave his body, he heard footsteps approaching behind him then the world went dark.

_**TGP**_

Loki awoke to a searing pain in his head, he tried to focus magic into his head to alleviate the pain but found he couldn't. He tried to move his arms, but found he couldn't do that either.

He opened his eyes and found that he was chained to a wooden chair with thick iron chains. He looked around him trying to get an idea of where he was. He was in a circular room. There was a raised dais in front of him, four people set on the dais.

He recognized the people by name and reputation; they were the rulers of the Celtic pantheon the ones that gave the orders for every horrible act ever done by any Celtic god. He sighed well he wanted to find the Celtic pantheon he just wished he wasn't chained to a chair.

As he finished that thought, a big stocky man with a face like a gorilla turned to face him. Loki recognized his hairy face and the large pointed teeth that jutted up from the bottom of his mouth.

He was Dagda, father of some of the most powerful Celtic gods ever to exist, and one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty people ever to be born. It was said every day he consumed fresh hearts to keep himself strong.

"Well, well, well it looks like our spy is awake," Dagda said with a triumphant gleam in his beady black eyes, his statement drew other's attention and they all turned to stare Loki.

Loki stared back at them, "I know I'm the best looking one in the room especially compared to that." He nodded at Dagda, "but your staring is making me nervous."

Dagda released a beast like roar that shook the chamber. He wanted nothing more than to take revenge against the Norse gods for taking both his daughters away from him. However, his mother would not allow him to tear the man before him limb from limb. She wanted to find out why he was here. She suspected that Odin had sent his son to extract revenge for kidnapping his granddaughter.

He turned to his mother.

She was a tall regal woman with dark hair, green eyes and tanned skin that was decorated with tribal tattoos. "

Get on with it," he told her irritably.

Danu sighed why couldn't her son see the big picture? The man before her had broken into their stronghold undetected. That had never happened before they needed to find out how he did it and why. Since their return they hadn't expanded their territory as much as she would've liked. The other gods were fighting them at every turn they needed an edge.

She hoped that they could extract some useful information from the god of mischief and finally get an edge against the other gods, since it was well known he had spies in every pantheon. Shaking her head, she turned to the chained man, "Why are you here?"

Loki sat relaxed in his chair despite being chained to it and surrounded by enemies, "I am here to help the Celtic pantheon destroy Midgard."

Silence echoed throughout the Council chamber.

Dagda slammed his fist down on the dais, "It's a lie; he's trying to trick us. I say we kill him now."

"That would be a bad idea," said Loki totally unaffected by Dagda's suggestion to end his life.

"And why is that?" Asked a musical voice at the far end of the dais.

Loki turned to see a woman that was the definition of beauty.

She was tall and curvy with a really big bosom. Her long white hair flowed down her slender back, her blue eyes smoldered with desire, and her luscious red lips just beg to be kissed.

Loki felt a jolt go through his body. He wanted this woman more than he had wanted anything in his entire life. He would sell his soul if she would touch him just once. He bit down on the inside of his cheek hard to get control of himself. He took a deep breath and spit out a mouthful of blood before he answered, because I am one of the only people in the world that can resurrect The White Lady.

The pale beauty smiled, "I like this one. Can I keep him?"

Danu sighed, "Enough Mab," she turned back to Loki, "why would you do that?"

"As a show of good faith to let you know that I'm serious about wanting a partnership with you."

"Why do you want to destroy Midgard?"

"I feel that Midgard is holding me back from realizing my full potential, so if Midgard won't help me I will find people who will. So, do we have a deal?"

Danu waved her hand, conjuring a barrier so they could talk in private and leaned back in her chair, "So, should we do it?"

"I think we should," said Mab as she licked her lips seductively, "I could use a new lover mine wear out so quickly."

Dagda was the next to speak, "I say we let him bring back my daughter then kill him?"

Danu nodded and turned to the only person on the Council that had not spoken. He was tall, broad shouldered, and barrel-chested. He had bright blue eyes and brown hair. Leaves grew from his body to cover every inch of bare skin, "What do you think Sucellus?"

The forest god turned to look at his mother, "I think we should do it. We need all the help we can get at the moment."

Then it's decided said the mother of the death god, forest god and lust goddess, "We'll have him bring back The White Lady" with a wave of her hand, she dismissed the barrier and turned to face the Norse god of mischief, "Do it bring back my granddaughter then we will talk about helping you destroy Midgard."

Loki nodded, "I will of course need to be released from this chair and have access to my magic."

Danu nodded and narrowed her eyes, "you try anything funny, and you won't leave here alive."

"Duly noted."

Danu nodded and with a wave of her hand she banished the chains holding Loki to his chair.

Loki sighed in relief as he felt his power flow back into him. He stood up and stretched, "Now let's get started." He waved his hand and the mutilated body of the white lady appeared on the ground before him.

The Council gasped as they saw the state of one of their greatest warriors. There was a bloody ragged hole punched into her chest and five puncture wounds in her stomach. Her left eye and the left side of her mouth were melted shut, starting from her pinky finger three fingers on her left hand were melted together. Her teeth gleamed through a hole in the right side of her cheek.

Dagda sprang to his feet, his face purple with rage, and a vein in his four head pulsed erratically, "What have you done to my daughter?!" He roared

"I didn't do this," Loki said easily, "it was my niece and the Norse's new ally."

"New ally?" Danu questioned.

"It's not important," Loki said as he turned to face her, "I need four sacrifices."

Danu frowned. She didn't like the fact that Loki was holding back information. She nodded with a wave of her hand; she summoned four dirty and malnourished humans, three men and one woman.

Loki look them over, nodding his approval he extended his will, and took control of them. He made them gather in a circle around the corpse of the White Lady, he then reached into his cloak and pulled out the orb that contained the power he had collected from the Morrigan.

Once again Dagda sprang to his feet, ""Where did you get that power""? He demanded recognizing it as his other daughter's.

"I collected it from her prison," Loki said as he knelt down beside the white lady and placed the orb on her chest.

"What prison?" Dagda demanded.

Thrud and Marcus Le Fay, Thrud's new best friend, did not kill the Morrigan. They imprisoned her inside a lay line with powerful Fay magic.

Danu frowned. She hadn't expected the Fay to make a move against them. It seemed that claiming new territory and subjecting the humans to their rule just became a lot more difficult.

Loki stood up and stretched his hands over The White Lady. Golden tendrils of magic flowed from his hands into the orb nestled in the center of the deceased death goddess's chest.

The Morrigan's captured power billowed from the orb and engulfed the four malnourished humans surrounding The White Lady. They screamed as their life forces were ripped from their bodies and absorbed into the fallen death goddess. She began to glow as the wounds on her body faded away, the ragged holes in her body disappeared and her melted flesh returned to normal. Once her body was healed, Loki used the last of the Morrigan's power to reach into limbo, grab The White Lady's soul and drag it back into her body.

The white lady gasp and set up, she clutched the tattered remains of her cloak tighter around her, "What happened?"

"You died," answered Loki as he offered her a hand and helped her to her feet.

The white lady thought hard. She scowled as she remembered being tortured by Thrud, "I will kill that little Norse bitch."

"Not right now you won't," said Danu.

The white lady turned to her grandmother, "And why not?"

"Things have changed since you," Danu paused searching for the right words, "went away the Fay are now standing against us. We need to plan more carefully, go get some new clothes and get some rest."

The snow haired beauty clenched her fist and ground her teeth. She really wanted to go out and lay waste to Midgard, but if things had changed as much as her grandmother said then she needed to be prepared. She nodded and strode briskly from the Council chamber. It didn't matter what changed in her absence, she would watch and learn then when the time was right she would have her revenge

Loki turned back to the Council, "Well now that I've kept up my end of the bargain I think I'll check out your library". He turned and began walking out of the chamber.

"Hold it right there."

The god of mischief paused and looked over his shoulder.

Dagda jump down from his place on the dais and landed in the middle of the chamber, "Now that you've resurrected my daughter we don't need you anymore," he said smiling darkly. He charged forward ignoring his mother's cries for him to stop. All he could think about was weakening the pantheon that had stood against them for so long. He buried his fist in Loki's stomach.

The youngest son of Odin hunched forward, his body transforming into a giant serpent with Dagda standing in its mouth. The serpent's mouth slam shut and it swallowed the death god.

The Council set shock silent they had not expected Dagda to be defeated.

Loki emerged from the shadows clapping lightly, "Bravo, bravo", he said staring at the lump in the serpent's belly.

Suddenly the snake exploded in a shower of gore, Dagda stood in the remnants of the giant snake glaring holes into Loki, furious that Loki made him look like a fool.

All of a sudden, Loki faded from view and the world went dark.

_**TGP**_

Dagda found himself chained to a wooden table in a circle of light. He struggled against the chains and peered into the darkness.

Loki emerged from the shadows, holding a gleaming silver scalpel.

The son of Danu glared at him, "Let me out of here you sniveling little cretin."

Loki smiled and wagged his finger in a chastising manner, "Not just yet I haven't had my fun." He stepped forward, place the scalpel in the center of Dagda's chest, and made a long deep cut.

Dagda screamed as his innards were exposed,

For what seemed like hours, Loki cut into Dagda until there was nothing but bloody pieces left on the table.

_**TGP**_

The Council watched in confusion as Dagda locked eyes with Loki and froze. Suddenly Dagda drop to the ground screaming with blood pouring from his eyes and ears.

Loki turned to the Council, "Let this be a lesson to you any attack on me will not go unpunished." He turned and walked out of the throne room with a smile on his face. He had gotten some very useful information from Dagda's mind. He couldn't wait to get back to Midgard and start experimenting with what he had learned. Just before he left the throne room Danu called out, "Find a way to free the Morrigan; we will need her in the near future."

Loki nodded. Danu turned to the Council after he disappeared, "Start searching for a way to neutralize him. Once Midgard falls, I want him dead." The rest of the Council nodded Loki was way too dangerous to be partnered with for long.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Gray Prince Chapter 6**

Seagulls flew lazily through a clear blue sky, occasionally swooping down to grab fish out of the waves created by a Clipper ship as it made its way across the ocean. Its nine sails billowed outward as they caught the ocean breeze.

Marcus Le Fay sat cross legged on the bow of the ship, using his connection to nature to find strong currents, so they could get to Greece more quickly.

He glanced over at Thrud; she was leaning over the side of the ship puking. It took less than a day to figure out that the sea did not agree with her. He hated seeing her sick, so he used his connection to nature to summon strong winds and find powerful currents that could shorten their journey to Greece.

After she lost her breakfast, Thrud looked at Marcus. Her face was slightly green, and her right hand rested on her stomach, "If I had known I was going to get seasick. I would've just had father teleport us."

Marcus shook his head, "That's a nice idea, but the gods don't like it when other pantheons trespass in their territory. I was lucky I wasn't from a pantheon or Jason would've killed me on-site. No, we're much safer traveling by boat that way we can blend in with the other boats when we arrive in Greece.

They sat in silence just listening to the sails flap in the wind. After a while, Marcus turned to Thrud. She looked miserable, her face was a pale green, and she groaned softly each time the boat hit a rough patch of water, "Why don't you go lie down for a while."

Thrud turned to look at him; she could see the concern in his eyes. She wanted to refuse, but the ship chose that moment to hit a particularly large wave. It bounced up and down. She moaned miserably as she felt what little she had in her stomach churn dangerously, "That's a good idea." She turned and walked to the door leading to the bowels of the ship, praying all the while that this trip would be over soon.

The sun had just finished setting when Marcus rose shakily to his feet. His knees cracked and he took a moment to work the stiffness out of his legs. He stared out at the ocean; they had been out at sea for about a month. By his calculations it would take another four to get to Greece at the speed they were going. He just hoped Thrud would be okay. Shaking his head, he turned and headed to the door leading to the bowels of the ship, intent on going to the workroom to make something to help the Norse Princess.

_**TGP**_

Early the next morning, the royal duo was awakened by the ship being thrown from side to side. They sprinted onto the deck to see a giant blue octopus looming over the ship.

Its blue tentacles were wrapped around the bow and stern of the ship and its purple suction cups stuck fast to the ships wooden surface. The blue monstrosity lifted the ship high into the air and tried to break it in half, but the ship's defenses kicked in.

Thousands of bolts of electricity danced across the ship, the creature screeched in pain and dropped the ship. The ship slammed into the ocean, Marcus and Thrud were thrown down and a large amount of water splashed onto the deck.

Marcus rose to his feet and then helped Thrud to her feet. With a wave of his hand, he banished the water on the deck back into the sea. The royal duo then turned their gaze to the multi-tentacled creature before them.

The legendary creature towered over the ship at thirty stories tall. Its light blue skin glistened in the sunlight while its eight tentacles encircled the ship. Standing atop the legendary creature was a man. He was tall, lean, and muscular with mint-green skin, a thick brown beard, and black eyes. Fins grew from his wrist and ankles, and a pair of gills pulsed on either side of his neck. He wore a pair of green tights and clutched a golden trident in a webbed hand.

Marcus turned to Thrud, "Do you recognize this man?" He asked he knew that she had studied the entire Celtic pantheon after her mother's death.

Thrud nodded grimly as she glared up at the man, "Yes, I do this is Llyr Celtic God of the sea."

"So, how much trouble are we in?" Marcus asked as he turned his gaze back to the massive creature towering over them.

"We'll be fine as long as the ship's defenses hold up."

The Prince of Avalon looked at the bubble of electricity that surrounded the ship. He didn't think it would hold up long against the god of the sea in his element. He turned back to Thrud, "We need a plan."

The daughter of Thor turned to him, "I'm listening." She hoped Marcus had something good up his sleeve because right now she was drawing a blank.

"Well, well, well when Danu asked me to watch the oceans I never imagined I would catch the Celtic pantheons two most wanted," Llyr said in a voice that sounded like he was gargling water. "Now, please come along quietly I don't want to have to destroy this fine vessel."

Marcus turned to Thrud, "Did you know we're wanted by the Celts?"

"No, I guess their angry that we took down two of their strongest warriors."

"Want to give up?"

"Nope."

"Me neither," Marcus turned back to Llyr, "we don't want to give up today could you possibly come back tomorrow?"

Llyr scowled and his face flushed a dark shade of green, "Fine I tried to be nice, but if you won't come quietly then I'll see you both destroyed." He waved his trident and summoned great purple electric eels ten feet long and as thick as a man's torso. They attached to the electric bubble that surrounded the ship and began absorbing the electricity into their bodies.

Marcus frowned as the barrier began to flicker. He had to do something, he didn't know what other defenses the ship had, but he knew that giant octopus would destroy the ship quite easily.

Dropping to his knees, he withdrew a dagger from one of the two bandoliers of equipment that crisscrossed his chest and carved runes into the deck of the ship.

"What are you doing," the Norse Princess asked as she watched him carve a circle of runes into the deck.

"Stopping those overgrown eels," Marcus answered before closing his eyes, opening his connection to nature, and pushing pure nature magic into the runes.

The runes shone brightly and the bubble that surrounded the ship blazed a forest green. The eels screeched as nature magic flowed into their bodies. Moss began to cover them, flowers sprouted from the moss, and small twigs emerged from every opening in their bodies. No longer able to feed off the barrier the eels dropped into the ocean and sunk like stones.

Marcus withdrew his hand from the runes and collapsed onto his back panting, "That was a lot harder than it should have been. It appears that being this close to Llyr in his natural element makes it harder for me to draw on nature magic." His brow furrowed and his mouth twisted into a grimace. If he couldn't draw on nature magic to give him a quick boost this battle just got a lot harder.

Llyr frowned and his eyes narrowed as he saw how easily his eels were defeated. He had heard that these two had defeated The White Lady and The Morrigan, but he honestly thought they had just gotten lucky. However, it appeared that they did have some skill, so he guessed he was going to have to be a little more creative and a lot more careful in the way he handled these two royal nuisances. He tightened his grip on his trident and whirlpools appeared spinning rapidly around the ship.

A variety of sunken ships rose from the depths of the sea. Thick clumps of coral clung to their outer hulls and long strands of seaweed hung from their decayed mast. Skeletal crews pulled on rotten ropes and hoisted sales that look like Swiss cheese as they brought their ships around, so that their rusty canons face the Clipper ship.

Thrud looked at the ships that surrounded their small vessel, their cannons were aimed and ready to fire. She turned to Marcus, "Remind me to tell grandfather the next time he has a boat built to make sure it has some weapons on it."

"If we make it through this I'll definitely make sure to remind you."

Smoke and Canon fire filled the air, cannonballs slammed into the electric bubble that surrounded the clipper ship. The bubble stretched like rubber then the cannonballs flew back towards the offending ships, smashing through their decks and hull's. However, no matter how much damage the ships took they didn't sink. The skeletal crews loaded cannonballs into the cannons and prepared to open fire again.

Marcus frowned as he saw the electrical bubble flicker in and out of existence. He knew it wouldn't be able to take another barrage of cannon fire. He turned to Thrud, you steer the ship I'll try to defeat Llyr. Before, Thrud could answer Marcus lifted into the air and flew outside the ships barrier.

Thrud watched him go with a frown on her beautiful face, oh, that's really nice Marcus leave the woman that get seasick to pilot the ship she thought. She sighed and made her way over to the steering wheel.

_**TGP**_

Marcus hovered above the sea battle raging below. He watched as Thrud summon down lightning to intercept the cannonballs that were fired at the ship. The lightning struck the cannonballs and sent them spiraling into the ocean. He sighed in relief that Thrud was okay and turned his gaze to Llyr. He had to think of a way to end this quickly, he didn't think Thrud could keep summoning down lightning to intercept the cannonballs. Since lightning seem to work for Thrud, he thought it may work against the sea god. With a wave of his hand, he sent a bolt of lightning flying at Llyr.

Without even looking at him Llyr moved his trident to intercept the lightning. The lightning hit the trident then rebounded back at Marcus.

Marcus dodged the lightning and frowned, he should've known it wasn't going to be that easy. Before, he could try something else he had to dodge multiple blue tentacles that tried to grab him. It seemed that while Llyr was content to leave Marcus alone for now, confident that Marcus couldn't hurt him. The giant blue octopus was not going to let a potential threat hurt its master.

_**TGP**_

Thrud watched Marcus dodge the flailing tentacles of the giant blue octopus. She knew that infusing the barrier that surrounded the ship with nature magic took a lot more out of him than he was letting on, "Please be alright." She whispered before summoning down another bolt of lightning to destroy an incoming cannonball.

_**TGP**_

After dodging the tentacle attacks of Llyr's pet for several minutes, Marcus had learn two things: one the creature was fast and strong: two it was very stupid. A smile worked its way onto his face is a plan formed in his mind.

He flew towards the closest ship that was manned by a skeletal crew easily dodging their cannon fire. It seemed the undead crew could hit a large target, but a small moving target seemed to be far beyond their ability to hit. He hid behind the ship as expected a large blue tentacle came down and smashed the ship breaking it in half.

Marcus seized his chance; he slammed both hands on the two halves of the broken ship. There was a bright flash as he used alchemy to transform them into a giant ball and chain wrapped around the tentacle. The now imprisoned tentacle sunk beneath the water. He smiled as the octopus was thrown off balance by the new weight. He repeated this process until all the ships were transformed into a ball and chain and all eight tentacles were weighed down.

When the last tentacle was wrapped in a ball and chain, the giant octopus was pulled to the bottom of the ocean, leaving the year to fall into the water with a large splash.

_**TGP**_

Thrud watched as Marcus tricked the giant octopus into destroying the ships that surrounded her, she smiled as he transmuted the wreckage into a ball and chain around each one of its massive tentacles, and let out a sigh of relief when it was dragged to the bottom of the sea. Despite the dire situation, she laughed when Llyr fell into the ocean with a splash.

She shook her head with a smile on her face, even when you're fighting for your life you have a marvelous sense of humor she thought as she gazed up at Marcus hovering in midair like an avenging angel.

_**TGP**_

Marcus floated in midair panting with exhaustion. Transforming all the ships into a ball and chain took a lot more magic than he thought. He looked up as a wave rose from the ocean with Llyr standing atop it, glaring angrily at him.

"I was originally going to let you live a bit longer, but now you have made me angry."

Marcus smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I couldn't let you hurt my lovely companion."

_**TGP**_

On the deck of the Clipper ship, Thrud blushed when she heard Marcus call her lovely.

_**TGP**_

Llyr ignored him, with a wave of his hand he summoned thousands of jellyfish from the sea that latched themselves onto Marcus and proceeded to sting him.

Marcus screamed in pain as the venom from the gelatinous creatures coursed through his body. The pain became too much and he dropped semiconscious into the sea.

_**TGP**_

Thrud watched in horror as Marcus fell into the sea with jellyfish clinging to his body. Horror was soon replaced by rage; her eyes shone a florescent blue and lightning danced around her body as she charged towards the sea god.

With the son of Morgan taking care of, Llyr turned back to the clipper ship just in time to catch a lightning covered fist in the face. He shot towards the water like a comet.

Before he could hit the water, Thrud appeared below him and kicked him high into the air. While he was in the air Thrud summoned dark storm clouds to settle over him, lightning flashed throughout the clouds, before, a humongous bolt of lightning stabbed down from the sky and slammed into his body.

Llyr screamed in pain as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through his body. His eyes rolled back into his head as he lost consciousness, and steam rose off his charred form as he fell into the ocean.

Thrud hovered in midair panting with sweat running down her face. That will teach Llyr to mess with someone she cared about. She took a moment to get our breath back and was just about to dive into the ocean after Marcus when a fully healed Llyr arose from the water.

Thrud looked him over, his face was twisted in rage and the gills on the side of his neck pulsed erratically. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let him hit the ocean she mused.

"I was originally going to capture you and take you back to the Celtic stronghold, so we Celts could use you as leverage against Midgard, but I think you're dead body can break Midgard spirit more than your capture." Llyr waved his Trident and two watery hands formed out of the ocean and made to grab the Norse Princess.

Thrud dodge the liquid appendages and formed a ball of compressed air in her hand. She threw the ball of compressed air at the sea god. The air ball soared through the air and slammed into the sea god's chest, sending him toppling off his wave.

With a thought, Llyr summoned a wave of water to catch him. He thrust his Trident forward and ice Spikes shot from the ocean.

Thrud saw the deadly frozen projectiles flying towards her and summoned down bolts of lightning to intercept them. Lightning stab down from the sky and struck the ice spikes just before they impacted her body. Steam filled the air as the frozen spears evaporated and the Norse Princess lost sight of her prey. As the steam dispersed she saw no sign of the green skinned god.

Suddenly, before she could react water rose up from the ocean and formed into a bubble around the Norse Princess.

Llyr emerged from the ocean on a wave of water before the trapped Princess, "It's over for you." He raised his Trident over his head and prepared to strike.

Thrud tried to break out of her prison, but found while she was in the water her powers were diminished. Resigning herself to her fate, she closed her eyes and waited for death, "I'm sorry Marcus it looks like I won't be able to help you stop the Celts."

_**TGP**_

I guess this is it; I'm going to die, Marcus thought as he drifted to the bottom of the sea. All of a sudden, he heard Thrud's voice, "I'm sorry Marcus it looks like I won't be able to help you stop the Celts."

His eyes snapped open No; I can't leave Thrud to face that monster alone. He closed his eyes and opened his connection to nature, but found that the sea god's power was still overshadowing the natural flow of nature magic. Well, he thought, if I can't draw power from nature all just have to get it from somewhere else.

It was a well-known fact that Fay could draw power from nature, but what was not well-known was that they could also draw power from other living creatures. Closing his eyes, Marcus began to draw the life energy out of the jellyfish that were still attached to his body.

The jellyfish began to wither and fall off as his body settled on the ocean floor, the last of the jellyfish fell the way. With his body full of new energy, the Prince of Avalon used his magic to expel the jellyfish poison from his body.

Violet liquid oozed from his body and the angry red whelps that covered his form disappeared. With his body fully healed and his mind free of pain, Marcus could feel the warm seabed beneath him.

That confused him. He was at the bottom of the ocean. What could possibly be warm all the way down here? He looked around and saw he was lying at the bottom of an underwater volcano.

The site gave him an idea on how to stop the sea god once and for all. He smiled let's see how old fish face deals with this. He climbed to his feet and gritted his teeth against the pressure of the ocean depths. Concentrating in a certain way, the young prince transformed his body, so that it would be able to deal with the deep ocean.

His hands became webbed, his legs joined together as they transformed into a fishes tail, and a set of gills formed on the side of his neck. He smiled and ran his tongue along his new pointed teeth as the pressure of the ocean disappeared.

After taking a minute to get used to his new form, the new merman swam to the top of the volcano and settled in the center of the massive hole nestled at the top of the underwater mountain. He glanced down at the liquid magma bubbling and churning just a few feet below him. Saying a silent prayer while coating his body and magic, Marcus pushed a steady stream of magic into the lava below. He smiled as the liquid fire began to rise, silently hoping that he didn't barbecue himself.

_**TGP**_

Llyr was just about to stab Thrud when wisps of steam wafted in front of his face. Curious, he looked down and saw the ocean boiling below him, large bubbles gathered on the surface and thick clouds of steam floated into the air. He lowered his Trident and floated closer to the bubbling water.

Suddenly, Marcus exploded from the water riding a geyser of red-hot lava. His pale white shirt clung to his body and the tattered remains of his pants hung around his fish tail. Before Llyr could react, Marcus used magic to wrap the geyser of molten rock around the sea god. He jumped off the molten mountain and blew a breath of freezing air onto the tower of magma.

The molten rock cooled and hardened in into a tower of thick black stone. Marcus moved over to catch Thrud as she fell from her watery prison.

The Norse Princess took in his fishy form, "Are you alright?"

The scaly prince cocked his head to one side, "Yes, why?"

"Well, you look kind of fishy."

"Oh that," Marcus concentrated in a certain way and his body returned to normal. As he floated a few inches above the water, he looked down at Thrud her thin white gown clung to her body accentuating her curves, "Are you alright?" He asked brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her light blue eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine," Thrud answered, she glanced over his shoulder at the mountain of rock that poked out of the ocean, "is it over?"

"Not just yet," the son of Morgan answered. He floated over to the clipper ship and set Thrud on the deck. He then floated over to the small island and placed the hand on the rough black rock, he glanced back at the Norse Princess, "I need some rain."

Thrud nodded and closed her eyes in concentration. Pale gray storm clouds settled over the island and released a steady stream of rain.

"Alright that's good," Marcus called after a few minutes.

Thrud nodded and banished the storm clouds away. She then opened her eyes to watch Marcus curious as to what he was up to.

Marcus placed both hands on the island and poured a large amount of magic into the earth beneath his hands. The black rock burned a bright green as flowers began to grow from its surface. Sweat began to pour from the young Prince his brow as he guided the roots of the young plants into the sea god's body that was buried deep in the center of the island.

After a few minutes, Marcus backed away and looked at his work. The small island was now covered in lush green grass, a variety of flowers, and thick tall trees with bright green leaves. Satisfied, the exhausted Prince floated back to his ship and climbed aboard.

Thrud looked at him, "What did you do?"

Marcus leaned back against the side of the ship and ran a hand through his hair, "Those plants I created will feed off Llyr's power and keep him trapped in that island."

Thrud shook her head in disbelief with a small smile on her face, "I can't believe you created an island."

Marcus waved his hand dismissively, it was nothing I couldn't have done it without your help. If you hadn't called out to me I would have died at the bottom of the ocean.

Thrud didn't know what to say to that, she honestly didn't expect Marcus to hear her, so she changed the subject, "So, what are we going to do now?"

Marcus raised his head from his chest and gazed at the horizon with tired eyes, "Now we head to Greece."

Nodding, Thrud summoned a strong wind to propel their slightly battered ship forward.

_**TGP**_

Marcus stood on the bow of the ship staring out at the ocean, his long black Dragon hide trench-coat billowing in the breeze. He reached into his trench-coat and pulled an extendable telescope from the bandoliers of equipment that crisscrossed his chest.

With a flick of his wrist, he extended the telescope. He put the telescope to his eye and peered through it, he could just make out the coastline of Greece through the dense fog of the early morning.

With another flick of his wrist, he shrunk the telescope and slipped it into one of his trench-coats many pockets. He turned to look at Thrud. She looked stunning in a light blue gown. The Golden torc around her neck glinted in the sunlight, "We should be in Greece by the end of the day."

Thrud nodded her head with her eyes closed as she let the wind flow through her long blonde hair.

Marcus just stood there staring out at the ocean occasionally glancing at Thrud. After the battle with Llyr he had used the ships workroom to repair the ship and mix up a potion to get rid of Thrud's seasickness. Once her seasickness was gone the Norse Princess seemed to enjoy the trip a lot more. Even after knowing her for almost a year and a half he still couldn't believe what an amazing woman she was.

Over the last four months, they had gotten into a routine. During the day they would control the wind didn't sea making sure they stayed on course to Greece while sparring so they learned how to multitask. At night they would lie on the deck and stare at the stars or talk about their childhood.

Marcus told her what it was like to grow up on Avalon. He told her about running through the forest, playing with nature spirits, and the things he had learned from them. He told her about when he was five years old he snuck into his mother's throne room and saw the horrors committed by the Celts in her viewing pool. He told her how that event had caused him to dedicate himself to stopping the Celts, so he didn't have to worry about the Celts coming to take his family away, and so that the mortals could know the peace he enjoyed on Avalon.

In turn, Thrud would tell him about growing up with her parents. She told him how her mother would take her into the woods and how they would see the beauty of the Norse territory. She told him how her mother what point out rare and beautiful creatures. She told him how one day The White Lady had come and attacked Midgard killing her mother.

She told him about how she made a promise on her mother's grave that she would get revenge on The White Lady. She told him how her father had changed after the death of her mother, how he dedicated himself to training her and making her strong, so he didn't have to worry about losing her too. She told him about how once she became strong most of the men of Avalon feared her.

She told him about how alone she felt at times when her father went to the border of Midgard to make sure no one else was lost to the Celts.

When Marcus heard this he grabbed her hand, looked her in the eye, and told her as long as he was alive she would never be alone again.

Touched by his sentiment, Thrud leaned over and kissed him on the cheek while silently vowing to herself that she would not let anything happen to him.

A hand on his shoulder brought, Marcus out of his thoughts. He turned around to see Thrud looking at him with concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine. I was just thinking about how close we had to come on this quest, and how glad I am that you came with me."

Thrud smiled and grabbed his hand, "Of course I came with you I couldn't let my best friend go on such a dangerous quest alone."

Marcus smiled and squeezed her hand, but he felt a twinge of pain at being referred to as her best friend. He wished she would refer to him as something a little stronger. Shaking his head, he asked her, "you ready to go to Greece?"

Thrud smiled. She enjoyed her time sailing on the ship with Marcus and the romantic moments they shared. She shook her head, there were no romantic moments. She was just imagining them, there was no way Marcus liked her that way. If he did he would have told her, right?

"You bet," she answered, "I can't wait to get on dry land again."

Marcus laughed and together they stared out at the approaching seashore.

_**TGP**_

They were about a mile out from Greece when Thrud thought of something, "Marcus?"

"Yeah."

"You know how you said gods can sense when gods from another pantheon enters their territory."

"Yeah."

"Well, what's to stop the Greek gods from sensing me? Since, I belong to the Norse pantheon."

Marcus waved his hand dismissively, "Don't worry about that. The torc around your neck mask your godly energies. Hopefully by the time they find out you're from the Norse pantheon we will have already earned their trust."

Thrud nodded, but she was still uneasy about going into another pantheons territory, knowing that they could diminish her powers if they so choose.

Marcus placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face him, "Don't worry I have faith that you're strong enough to take on anyone from the Greek pantheon if the situation calls for it, but on the off chance that you need me I'll be there."

Thrud smiled it filled her with a warm feeling to know that Marcus had so much faith in her. "Thanks," she muttered as she turned away to hide the blush that spread across her cheeks.

_**TGP**_

The sun was beginning to set when the Clipper ship finally entered port. As the ship bumped against an open dock, Thrud jumped down and tied the ship fast to it while Marcus lowered the sails and dropped the anchors.

Marcus hopped down onto the deck and looked around. Men with the same dark hair and sea green eyes lined the dock. They worked on their ships, talk to each other, or threw their catches on the dock. Curious, Marcus reached out with his mind. He felt the power of the sea churn inside them like an angry ocean before he was pushed out. Sons of Poseidon, he muttered, shaking his head. He turned to Thrud, "Are you ready to go?"

"I just spent five months at sea, what do you think?"

Marcus laughed and together they took their first steps on to dry land in five months.

They walked up a steep incline that led into the city of Sami. Entering the town, the royal duo found most of the shops closed for the evening, except, for an inn at the end of the street. They walk down the street passing under oil lamps that cast long shadows in the dirt road. They stop before the inn and looked the building up and down.

It was a large two-story wooden building with many Windows. Two rocking chairs sat on a porch that faced the road. A sign that hung above the door written in fancy lettering and illuminated by two stubby candles that were suspended on either side of the door read (The Melissani Inn.)

Marcus turned to Thrud, "Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"Well, I'm definitely not staying on the ship"

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad."

"Excuse me, but you didn't spend the first month at sea regurgitating fried fish."

"Fair point," Marcus conceded and led the way inside.

_**TGP**_

A bell above the door announced their arrival into the inn. The weary royal duo stepped inside and looked around. Oil lamps mounted on the walls cast a pale yellow glow throughout the inn. Tables and chairs were situated on one side of the shop while a bar took up the other. A staircase beside the bar led up to the upper floors.

Marcus walked over to the bar and wrapped on it with his knuckles, rousing the heavyset man that had been using it as a pillow from his slumber. The man jerked awake and rubbed his beady red eyes, "What?" He grunted clearly angry at being woken up.

"Do you have any rooms?" Marcus asked getting straight to the point.

The man's eyes shifted between the two of them as he ran a hand through his tangled dark hair, "One or two?"

"Two."

The innkeeper nodded, "That will be fifty gold pieces."

Marcus's eyes widened and he stared back at the man incredulously, but the red eyed man just grinned nastily back at him.

Marcus sighed, this was payback for waking the man he just knew it. "Fine," he reached into one of the pockets of his trench coat and pulled out a small back. He weighed it in his hand before tossing it on the counter, "it's all there."

The innkeeper wrapped his stubby fingers around the bag and turned it upside down. Gold coins spilled from the bag and scattered across the counter. The innkeeper took a moment to count the coins, his red eyes staring intently at them as he moved each one into a pile. After making sure they were all there he turned back to the royal duo and pointed up the stairs, "First two doors on your left."

Thrud led the way up the stairs. Marcus guessed she was really eager to sleep in a bed that didn't move to the motions of the sea. They stop before the doors to their respective rooms and Marcus reached into a pocket on his trench-coat and pulled out their shrunken bags. He waved a hand over the bags and they returned to normal size. He handed Thrud her bags and they bade each other good night.

_**TGP**_

Marcus stepped into the room and looked around. The room was sparsely furnished. There was a coat rack beside the door and a dresser with a mirror mounted atop it along one wall. A bed sat in the center of the room with a nightstand situated beside it. The lone candle on the nightstand cast the room and shadow. A chair sat in front of the only window looking down on the street below.

All in all Marcus was impressed with the furnishings. From the barman's attitude he was expecting something a lot worse. He hung his trench-coat and bandoliers on the coat rack then made his way over to the bed. He threw his bag onto the floor and stripped off his shirt before falling onto the bed, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

_**TGP**_

The next morning Marcus awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He rolled out of bed and fell onto the hard wooden floor with a thump. With a groan, he climbed to his feet and shuffled to the door. He wrenched the door open with a, "What?"

Thrud just stood there, her eyes roaming over Marcus's muscular chest and powerful arms. "Uh good morning," she said licking her suddenly dry lips.

"Hi," Marcus said rubbing the back of his head embarrassed by the way he answered the door.

Thrud tore her eyes away from Marcus's Adonis like body and shook her head. When she thought she had herself under control she turned back to face him, "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure, just let me get dressed."

As Marcus turned away, Thrud caught sight of a tattoo in the middle of his back just before the door closed. She shook her head and made her way back to our room to grab her bags, "I wonder why Marcus has a tattoo of a tiger in chains on his back."

_**TGP**_

Thirty minutes later, Marcus and Thrud made their way downstairs. They stepped into the lower floor of the inn and found it packed full of people, some were eating various foods while others drank at the bar. They found an empty table and sat down.

They looked at the different foods people were eating, but saw little they recognized. Deciding to play it safe, they each ordered a bowl of porridge from the innkeeper. After eating half the bowl Thrud asked, "So, how do we go about finding the Greek gods?"

Marcus took a bite of porridge to give himself time to think, he had an idea, but he didn't think Thrud would like it, especially since it involved walking straight into a god's seat of power. Shaking his head he swallowed his porridge then answered, "I think we need to find the closest Temple of Zeus?"

Thrud stiffened. She was already in danger by being a Norse god in Greek territory and Marcus wanted to go walking into the King of the god's temple. If she didn't know any better she would say he was trying to kill her. She took a deep breath to calm her raging thoughts and made sure her face showed none of the fear she felt inside before speaking, "I think it would be better to go for a Temple of Poseidon."

Marcus paused with a spoonful of porridge halfway to his mouth, "Why?"

"Before we left my grandfather pulled me aside and told me he sent Jason storm to speak with his father. Maybe he could find a way for us to speak to the gods without getting killed."

Marcus cocked his head to one side and the porridge slid off the spoon and fell back into the ball with a plop, "Who is Jason's father?"

"Poseidon," Thrud answered.

Marcus's eyebrows shot to his hairline and his spoon dropped into his bowl with a clatter, "Really?"

"Yes, really, Thrud answered, Jason is the first and only God in the Norse pantheon to be born from two different pantheons."

Well that explains the look the people of Midgard gave him when he walked me through the streets Marcus mused. As he thought back to the glares the people had given Jason as he escorted him to the palace when he first arrived in Midgard.

Shaking his head, Marcus pushed his porridge away and rose to his feet, "Alright then let's go find us a Temple of Poseidon."

Thrud nodded and rose to her feet.

Together they made their way over to the bar.

Marcus stood before the bar and waited for the innkeeper to acknowledge him.

The innkeeper just continued to clean a glass with a dirty rag. When he saw that Marcus wasn't going to go away, he slammed down the glass and glared at him, "What do you want?"

Marcus stared impassively back totally unaffected by the man's actions, "Yes um…" It was at that moment he realized he never got the innkeeper's name, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "excuse me but I don't believe I ever got your name."

"Perseus," the man grunted, "now tell me what you want."

"Well, Perseus I was wondering if you could tell me where the nearest Temple of Poseidon is?"

Perseus smiled showing crooked yellow teeth. " Sure," he said slyly, "but it'll cost you he said stretching forth his hand and rubbing his stubby fingers together."

Marcus sighed, he was glad that he took a large amount of money from Avalon's treasury before he left. He reached into his trench coat to pull out some gold, but before he could remove it from his pocket Thrud grabbed his arm. He turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry I'll take care of this," she said with a wink.

Marcus raised an eyebrow as far as he knew Thrud didn't have any money. He watched as she sashayed forward and bent over the bar, so that her toga hung open giving Perseus a good view of her cleavage. "Come now," she said caressing his face, "surely you want something besides money."

Perseus licked his dry lips his red eyes glued to her cleavage, "Well, I'm certain we could work something out."

Thrud smiled and turned back to Marcus, "See I knew he was a reasonable man."

Marcus just stared at her he couldn't believe what she was doing. He honestly wished she would just let him pay the man. He didn't like the way Perseus was looking at her it made him want to tear the man's head off. Stomping down on that impulse, he forced a smile on his face. "Yes very reasonable," he said in a tight voice.

Thrud turned back to Perseus, "Now what can I do to get that information?" she said seductively.

"Oh I don't know," said Perseus as he rubbed her arm, "but I'm sure I can think of something that would be pleasurable for the both of us."

"Indeed," Thrud agreed. Suddenly, she grabbed Perseus by the back of the head and slammed his head into the bar, he cried out in pain and the whole inn went silent.

Marcus was surprised by Thrud's actions, but inwardly pleased. He didn't want to admit it, but it made him insanely jealous that Thrud was flirting with Perseus. He turned to the people in the inn and raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "Nothing to see here just a little negotiating." Slowly the people in the in return back to their food. When everybody was eating again Marcus turned around to watch Thrud deal with Perseus.

A steady stream of blood leaked from Perseus's broken nose onto the bar. "Now you listen here," Thrud growled pressing his face into the bar, "I've spent the past five months getting seasick to get here to talk to Poseidon, and I will not be stopped by a greedy little man like you. Now tell us where the nearest Temple of Poseidon is or your heads going to meet the bar again."

"The Melissani caves. You'll need a boat to get there," Perseus grunted.

Thrud smiled and released his head, "There now that wasn't so hard was it?" She turned to Marcus, "Ready to go?"

Marcus nodded with a small smile on his face and together they walked out of the inn.

"You know," Marcus said as they left, "you didn't need to do that I could have just paid the man."

Thrud shook her head, "I let that man take advantage of you once. I wasn't about to let it happen again."


	7. Chapter 7

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 7**_

Marcus and Thrud left the inn and began walking down Sami's bustling streets. People scurried back and forth like a colony of ants along the street as they went about their day to day business.

Marcus smiled as Thrud peered into shop windows staring at the merchandise with wide eyes. "You know after we get the Greek pantheon's help we could take a break and do some shopping."

Thrud looked at him and nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Some of these shops have some interesting weapons."

Marcus shook his head. The Norse Princess really was a warrior through and through, "So it's agreed. After we get the Greek pantheon's help you get to shop for weapons while I go to the library and see what kind of spell books they have to offer."

Thrud looked away, "At least now I have something to look forward to after another nauseating boat ride." she said with a grimace.

Marcus threw an arm around her shoulder, "Oh come on it won't be that bad."

"Speak for yourself," Thrud muttered adjusting her toga.

_**TGP**_

Arriving at the docks, Marcus reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out the extendable telescope. He extended it with a flick of his wrist and scanned the coastline. After a minute of searching, he found the cave. It was set into the base of a cliff about a mile away surrounded by jagged rocks. He sighed and offered Thrud the telescope.

"We're not going to be able to take our ship through that it would be smashed to pieces on the rocks." Thrud said when she saw the cave and the perils that surrounded it.

"I know," Marcus said reaching into his trench coat and pulling a shrunken rowboat from his bandoliers of equipment. He threw it onto the water and snapped his fingers, they rowboat glowed an expanded to full size.

Thrud looked at the tiny craft bobbing in the ocean, "We're supposed to get to the cave in that?" She said turning to Marcus with a raised eyebrow.

"This boat is small enough that it'll make it through the rocks."

"And I thought sailing was bad," the Norse Princess muttered as she climbed into the boat.

Marcus climbed in after her, sat down, pushed away from the docks, and began rowing to the cave.

Marcus sighed as his arms work the oars, he really wished he could use magic to control the currents, but he couldn't risk doing that in the Greek territory. It would be like shining a spotlight on top of them and letting the Greeks know that they were here. He shook his head and rowed a little faster.

To keep her mind off her aching stomach, Thrud thought back to the tattoo sheet seen on Marcus's back. She knew that the tiger was a symbol for power and that the chain of runes wrapped around the tiger was binding magic, so she had to wonder why Marcus had a tattoo on his back to bind some of his power. She turned to look at him, "Hey, Marcus."

"Yeah," he grunted as he rowed the boat.

"I was wondering if I can ask you something."

"Sure."

"Well, this morning when I came to your room," she blushed at the memory of Marcus's body, "I saw a tattoo on your back I was wondering if you could tell me about it."

Marcus stiffened, "it's just a memento from when I first started learning magic."

Thrud cocked her head to one side, "It looks like binding magic."

"That's because it is," Marcus said with a faraway look in his eye.

"Why on earth do you have a binding seal on your back?"

"It's a long story one that I don't like to talk about."

Thrud looked towards the cave they were still a good distance from it, "We have time." She said as she laid a hand on his knee, she could see that whatever it was it really weighed heavy on him, "You can trust me, just talk to me a little it'll make you feel better."

Marcus looked into Thrud's concerned eyes. He really did need to talk about it and there were very few people he trusted as much as he did Thrud. He sighed, "Alright, but please don't think me a monster."

Thrud squeezed his knee, "Nothing you could ever do would make me think you were a monster."

"We'll see," Marcus said as he looked towards the cave.

"It happened about a year after I started my training. I was standing in the courtyard waiting on my mother when I got bored, so I decided to have a little fun. I conjured a small tornado and watch to dance across the grass and send leave spinning into the air. After a few minutes, I wondered what would happen if I added even more power. I poured a little more power into the tornado, but I didn't know how powerful I really was. Almost immediately, I lost control of the tornado and watched horrified as it spun across Avalon destroying homes and causing countless deaths."

Marcus paused to guide the boat through the sharp rocks that surrounded the cave before continuing, "After what seemed like hours the tornado finally ran out of steam and disappeared. When my mother saw what I had done, she sealed away half of my power until I could learn to control it better, but even after I had learned to control my power and she was ready to unseal it. I wouldn't let her I was too afraid of the destruction I could cause with my full power unleashed."

He shook his head, "it was assumed that the tornado was a natural occurrence. Only my mother and I ever knew the truth until now." He looked away from her as he finished his tale and the ship bumped against the mouth of the cave.

Thrud sat there shocked that Marcus had that much power as a child. She shook her head and laid a hand on his shoulder, "It was an accident. You were young and didn't know how to control your power. Now you're using that power to help save the world."

"It still doesn't make up for the people I killed," Marcus said sadly as he stepped out of the boat.

"Nothing you can ever do will make up for that all you can do is forget about the past and face forward."

"I know that," Marcus said offering her a hand out of the boat.

Then at least think about unsealing your power. We're going to need it against the Celts, Thrud replied as she took his hand and climbed out of the boat.

"I'll think about it," Marcus said as they entered the cave, but Thrud could tell he had already made up his mind.

_**TGP**_

Columns had been carved into the cave walls and basins of green fire set atop each column sending a green glow about the cave. A large statue of Poseidon stood against the back wall in the very center of the cavern, a small alter at its feet.

Marcus stood before the statue. If this was an accurate representation of Poseidon then the legendary sea god was tall and lean with a thick beard. He stood totally naked except for the four pronged crown on his head, proudly showing off his swimmers body. His legendary trident was pointed out to sea as if he was commanding the ocean.

Marcus tore his gaze away from the statue and turned to Thrud, "So, how do we go about contacting Jason."

Thrud frowned, "I don't know. We have to be careful how much magic we use or the Greek gods will find out where here."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," said a voice behind them.

The Royal duo spun around to see Jason Storm emerge from behind a pillar. His time in Greece seem to have been good for him.

His dark hair was shorter, his body was covered in a rich golden tan, and his sea green eyes shined with power. He wore a light blue tunic with gold wristbands and dark golden sandals. A bow and quiver were strapped to his back while a belt of knives dangled from his waist.

The two Royal heirs relaxed when they saw who it was and Marcus asked, "What do you mean it's too late for that?

Jason's brow furrowed and deep lines appeared in his face, "The Greek pantheon increased their defenses when Llyr appeared in the sea. They sensed you the moment you crossed into their territory."

Thrud stiffened and Marcus put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "So, what happens now? Are they going to kill us?"

Jason smiled as he saw the way Marcus comforted Thrud, but he felt a twinge of pain that it wasn't him that comforted her. He shook his head he had a new life here in Greece. Over the past year and a half, he had made up with his father and learned much from him. He had also started dating a beautiful daughter of Aphrodite. He shook his head again and answered Marcus's question.

"No, the Greek gods aren't going to kill you. They see now that the Celtic gods pose a great threat and are willing to hear your proposal about joining together to defeat them, but first you have to prove you're worthy to speak to them."

"And how do we do that?" Thrud asked.

"There's a sorcerer that has been attacking demigods all across Greece and stealing their powers. If you stop this sorcerer the Greek gods will hear what you have to say."

The Royal duo looked at each other and nodded.

Together they turned to Jason with their eyes harden their jaw set in determination, "Where do we find this sorcerer?" Thrud asked.

Jason shook his head, "I don't know he has found a way to cloak himself."

Marcus thought for a minute, "Do we have your permission to use all the power at our disposal?"

"Yes as long as you don't hurt an innocent citizen of Greece."

Marcus nodded and closed his eyes. He opened his connection to nature and searched for any strange energy. After a moment of searching through all the demigod energy scattered throughout Greece. He found what he was looking for he opened his eyes and turned to Thrud, "I found him. Are you ready to go?"

Thrud nodded, and Marcus grabbed her hand, together they stepped into the shadows and disappeared.

"Good luck," Jason whispered into the silence of his father's Temple, "you're going to need it." He then disappeared, off to find a certain daughter of Aphrodite.

_**TGP**_

Marcus and Thrud stepped out of the shadow of a tree and into the forest that covered the mountains that overshadowed the town of Sami.

Thrud groaned and swayed on her feet. She took a deep breath savoring the scents of wildflowers and rich earth that flowed into her nose and filled her lungs. When she had herself under control she turned to Marcus, "I hate to shadow travel almost as much as I hate traveling by sea, it's nauseating."

"I know but it was the fastest way to get to the sorcerer's location," Marcus said as he looked around the forest, trying to peer into the dense foliage for any sign of the sorcerer. Unable to see through the massive vegetation, Marcus opened his connection to nature.

He sensed every living creature in the forest, but he blocked those out and focused on finding the sorcerer's energy signature. It didn't take him long to find it for his was the only one that felt like multiple demigods inside one person. He closed his connection to nature and turned to the Norse Princess. "This way," he said as he began walking through the forest.

Thrud followed after him as he willed the plants to move out of their way. She watched the different animals scurry after them. It amazed her how the animals seem to flock to Marcus, but she guessed that was part of being a Fay.

They had been walking for a while when Thrud noticed the trees began to thin and the animals were slowly leaving. When the last of the trees finally disappeared, the Norse Princess and the Prince of Avalon stood alone before a Greek temple.

Marcus's eyes scanned the temple. There was a large hole in the roof where the clay tiles had fallen from the roof onto the leaf covered ground. Ropes of ivy snaked their way up the marble columns that held up the roof, and a thick carpet of moss grew on the stairs that led inside the temple. The young Prince looked around and noticed that everything within a twenty foot radius of the temple was dead. He turned to look at Thrud and dead leaves crunched under his feet, "Be careful we're not alone here."

Thrud nodded. She could smell death in the air and since the dark energy that surrounded this place. Together they slowly made their way towards the temple.

Suddenly, men wearing Greek armor exploded from the earth. They had ragged holes in their chest where their hearts had been removed and their dead eyes shone a florescent white.

Thrud started forward only to stop when Marcus through a hand in front of her, "Wait I want to try something."

He turned to face the undead soldiers and raised his hand. He muttered a few words in a language that Thrud didn't understand and the air hummed with power before the soldiers fell to the ground. With a flick of his wrist, the Prince of Avalon set the bodies ablaze with white fire. As they burned he bowed his head, "Rest in peace and may you find joy in the afterlife."

Thrud stared at him amazed, "What the hell was that?"

Marcus turned to face her, "We have fought two people that could control the dead, and I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of having to worry about being attacked by dead people, so after the battle with the Morrigan I started trying to develop away to sever a sorcerer or gods control over the dead. What you saw here was the fruits of my labor."

Thrud shook her head and looked at the pile of ashes that littered the ground, "So, what do we do now? Whoever this sorcerer is they obviously know we're here."

"Well," Marcus smiled, "if that's the case then it would be rude to keep them waiting. He turned and walked up the moss covered steps of the temple."

Thrud sighed and made her golden armor cover her body before following him.

_**TGP**_

Thrud followed Marcus into the temple rat skeletons crunching under her feet as she walked. She wrinkled her nose as the smell hit her, the smell of rotten plants and old blood, "Oh that is awful."

Marcus nodded, "Nothing good happened in this place that's for sure." He looked around in the dim light provided by the hole in the ceiling.

Skeletons lined the pillars that led to a statue of Nemesis that stood on a raised dais. The statue was covered in dirt and missing both arms and one leg. It amazed Marcus that it was still standing. Kneeling at the statue was a man in a ratty dark cloak a small fire burned in front of him.

"I'll be with you in a moment," the man said dropping something into the fire. The fire burned gold and a small portion of it went inside the man. He moaned in pleasure and glowed gold briefly. When the glow died down he turned to face them and Marcus wondered how the man could see them for he had no eyes.

He was tall and deathly thin. His pale skin was stretched taut over frame his and his dark hair was matted with dirt and dried blood. He wore a gray shirt covered in stains that Marcus didn't even want to think about. A dark cloak hung from his spindly frame and his bony hands were twitching with nervous energy.

"Now how may I help you?" He asked.

"Are you the man that killed those demigods outside?" Marcus asked getting straight to the point.

"Indeed I am. After all I can't very well take their powers with them alive now can I?"

Marcus shook his head, "Who are you and why are you doing this?"

"I am Theseus, son of Circe and champion of Nemesis. As for why I'm doing this well that's not really important. All that matters is that I free my patron from her prison."

Thrud stepped forward, "We're not going to let you do that were not going to let you kill any more demigods."

"Is that so," Theseus waved his hand and the temple glowed. When the glow faded the temple was restored to pristine condition. The skeletons were gone and the marble floors gleamed in the light from the braziers of fire that sat between each pillar. The newly repaired statue of Nemesis stood proudly behind Theseus as if offering her support to her champion.

She was tall with proud features. She wore Greek armor and glared down at everyone with cold eyes.

Theseus smiled at his work, "This is just a sample of my power. You have no hope of stopping me."

Thrud glared at the deranged sorcerer as blood pounded in her ears. She had spent her whole life watching great warriors die at the hands of the Celts for this man to kill some of Greece's greatest demigods for power sickened her. She charged forward ignoring Marcus's cries for her to stop. All she could think about was wiping the arrogant smirk off of the servant of Nemesis's face

Marcus sighed, he understood Thrud was angry. He was furious with Theseus, but they had to be careful they were in his patron's place of power. Shaking his head, he began to chant words of power and the air around him hummed with mystical energy.

As Thrud drew closer to Theseus she drew back a fist and a long golden blade extended from her wrist. She thrust her arm forward only to hit a wall of resistance as a hurricane appeared around the son of Circe.

Theseus flashed her mocking a smile, "it's hopeless girl you can't defeat me." He waved his hand in the tornado exploded outward, sending Thrud flying through the air.

Marcus had just finished his spell when he saw Thrud be blasted through the air. His eyes flashed as he summoned a gentle breeze to break her fall. He then turned back to Theseus to watch his spell at work.

It started slowly as a spider squeeze through a crack in the floor and crawled toward Theseus it was soon joined by another and then another. Soon the entire floor was covered in spiders as big as a humans thumb.

Theseus panicked as he heard the arachnid Army scuttle forward. He waved his hand and the braziers of fire tipped over blanketing the floor in flames. He sighed in relief thinking the threat was over then he felt something crawl on his feet. He stopped and shook trying to get it off, but soon he was covered in a mass of wriggling spiders. He fell to the floor screaming as they began to bite him and wrap him in webbing.

"Is it over?" Thrud asked as she rejoined Marcus.

"I don't think so," Marcus answered his eyes locked on a space above the spiders.

Thrud followed his gaze and saw that dark storm clouds had gathered over the mass of wriggling spiders. Lightning shot down from the clouds and the spiders exploded in a shower of sickly sweet smelling orange goo.

Theseus rose to his feet covered in spider guts and webbing. Angry red bite marks covered his body and piles of spider eggs protruded from his empty eye sockets. "That is enough!" he screamed. He waved his hand and the giant statue of Nemesis glowed. It stepped down from its raised dais and lumbered towards the Royal duo.

Thrud turned to Marcus, "Got any ideas on how to defeat her giant statue?"

"I'm thinking."

"Well think faster," Thrud countered before charging forward.

As Thrud charged the statue, Marcus took time to look it over searching for any weak spots.

Nemesis was tall with proud features. She wore golden Greek armor and held a wooden staff topped with a bronze circle that had a piece missing. She glared down at everyone with cold eyes as if she found them unworthy to be in her temple.

The statue swung its staff at Thrud; the staff caught her in the side and sent her sailing through the air.

Marcus flicked his wrist and once again summoned wind to catch her. He then dropped to his knees and slammed both hands against the tile floor. The floor under the statue became soft as it was transformed into quicksand, and the statue began to sink.

Marcus smiled at his work, but frowned when he saw the statue just pull one for free and step onto solid ground. "Well that didn't work," he muttered as the statue finished climbing out of the quicksand.

Suddenly the statue shuttered and lurched to one side. The Prince of Avalon looked down and saw Thrud was back on her feet and she had slammed her golden fist into one of the statues legs throwing it off balance. Seizing his chance, Marcus took a deep breath and blew Gail force winds from his mouth sending the statue toppling over. The giant stone figure hit the ground with a deafening boom that sent a shudder through the temple.

Marcus coughed and waved away the dust that flew up from the broken tiles. He looked around small fires had broken out all throughout the temple from the tipped over braziers. The statue had fallen against several support columns which caused the roof to dip dangerously.

The sound of running footsteps caused him to turn. He saw Thrud running towards the statue, he watched as she leapt into the air and did a he'll drop on the statue's chest shattering it into large chunks.

Thrud climbed out of the rubble and walked over to Marcus, "Any idea why I can't summon storms. I tried to blast that statue with lightning, but I couldn't it was like something was fighting me for control over my elements."

Marcus shook his head, "This is the reason why the pantheons don't like it when other deities into their territory."

"Enough being cryptic Marcus, tell me why I can't use some of my powers"

"It's not that you can't use them it's that Poseidon and Zeus aren't letting you."

"What do you mean?"

Marcus sighed, "What I mean is that Zeus and Poseidon control lightning and storms respectively. If you want your powers back you're going to have to figure out a way to get around them. I seriously doubt they're going to let someone from another pantheon control their domains."

Thrud sighed, her quest just got a lot harder, "So how do I go about getting my domains back?" Thrud asked then she thought of something, "Wait a minute, if Poseidon and Zeus are blocking my powers over lightning in storms why do I still have my powers over magic and my skills as a warrior. Those are also my domains."

"To answer your first question, meditate and slowly start forcing them to relinquish some control over their elements. You will not have as much control as you would outside the Greek territory, but you are a goddess of storms they can't take away power that is rightfully yours. The only reason they can do it right now is because they have more experience than you do."

Thrud nodded and vowed to herself that she would fight until she had full control over her elements again.

"To answer your second question, the gods of her magic and war must not have supreme authority over those domains therefore they can't stop you from using those powers."

Thrud sighed she didn't really use magic even though it was one of her domains. In fact the only time she used magic was when she was boosting her speed, strength, and durability, which she hadn't done since Marcus gave her the armor. She only hoped she wasn't out of practice.

An enraged scream broke them out of their conversation. They turned to see Theseus gazing at the destruction they had calls to his patron's temple. He turned to face them the spider eggs in his empty eye sockets begin to boil as his eyeholes filled up with flames. "You," he began his voice quivering with rage, "how dare you destroy my mistress's temple. I will rend your souls from your body and give them to my master, and with the power she extracts from your souls she will finally be free from her prison." With his threat made, he charged forward.

Thrud closed her eyes and sent magic into her muscles. Slowly the armor began to expand as her muscles grew. Her body took on a lean muscular build in contrast to its usual slender more feminine structure. When she was finished she opened her eyes and looked at Marcus, "Do you have a plan on how to deal with this psycho?"

Marcus stood there staring at her changed body. He was captivated by her glowing light blue eyes and larger bosom. He jumped as her question brought him back to reality, "Yeah I have a plan but it's risky."

"Well get to it I'll hold him off," Thrud said she then turned and charged the enraged Theseus.

Marcus watched her go for a moment then dropped to his knees and wiped dust off one of the few tiles that weren't broken. He then reached into one of the pockets on his trench–coat and pulled out a bottle of ink and brush. He unscrewed the cap, dipped the brush in the ink and began to paint on the tile.

With the speed of her armor and her magically boosted abilities, Thrud covered the distance between her and Theseus in seconds. She threw her fist forward but to her surprise Theseus sidestepped her fist, grabbed her outstretched arm and through her across the temple.

She flew through the air and slammed into a marble column knocking it out of alignment, causing the roof to dip even lower. The Norse Princess climbed to her feet and shook her head grateful that her armor had taken most of the impact. She looked towards Theseus and saw that he was charging Marcus. Dropping to her knees, Thrud slammed her hands on to the ground. The Temple shook and the ground two feet behind Theseus exploded as golden chains shot from the earth.

They wrapped around Theseus his waist and Thrud yanked her arms upward, causing Theseus to fly backwards.

With a thought she covered her head in a golden helm, she then step forward and head butted the son of Circe. His momentum and the force behind the blow shattered his face and sent him crashing to the floor.

Marcus looked up as he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps, he saw Theseus running towards him. He watched as golden chains exploded from the ground and wrapped around Theseus his waist and he was yanked backwards. He smiled when he saw Thrud head-butt the son of Circe. Well that's one way to take care of your enemy he thought before putting the finishing touches on his drawing.

He looked down at his finished work. He had drawn a perfect picture of Arachne, the queen of spiders. She was a woman from the waist up but from the waist down she was a humongous black widow spider with six spindly spider legs.

He slipped his ink and brush into his trench coat. He then waved his hand over the drawing while muttering words of power, slowly weaving a binding spell into the drawing. When he was finished he conjured a small wind to blow across the ink to make sure it was dry. He then laid his hand across the sketch and began muttering a summoning spell, silently hoping that he wasn't bringing forth another enemy.

The drawing began to glow white and Marcus backed away. He watched as the Queen of the spiders emerged from the drawing as it was burned into the floor.

When the Queen of spiders finished appearing, Marcus realized that his drawing didn't do her justice.

She was eight feet tall with pale skin and bony features. Her silky black hair was pulled back into a bun at the top of her head and her four coal black eyes stared around the room. Her spider legs danced upon the floor as she turned in a circle taking in her surroundings. When she caught sight of Marcus her four eyes narrowed and she bared her needle pointed teeth, "Who are you and where am I?"

Marcus ignored her and opened his connection to nature. He lashed out with his mind and forced his will upon her. She thrashed around and swung her head back and forth before going still and staring at the young Prince with blank eyes, "What is your will master?" She asked in a voice without emotion.

Marcus sighed in relief, he honestly didn't think his plan would work, but he guessed she was more spider than human. He pointed to Theseus and Arachne turned in the direction he was pointing, "That man is an invader in your home, destroy him."

The arachnid queen growled and charged forward, her many legs making a click, click, sound on the marble tile as she ran.

Thrud stood over Theseus with her hand raised. With a thought she transformed it into a blade and prepared to cut the son of Circe's head off. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She looked up in time to see Arachne, the Queen of spiders, rise from the floor in front of Marcus.

Seeing that his opponent was distracted, Theseus slammed both feet into the Norse Princess's chest and sent her sprawling onto the floor.

Caught by surprise, it took Thrud a moment to regain her bearings. When she did she saw Theseus standing over her his mangled face twisted into an insane smile, "I'm going to enjoy tearing that armor off of you and sacrificing your soul to my mistress."

Thrud was about to stand and resume battle with the servant of Nemesis when she saw Arachne's feet leave the floor. She looked up and saw Arachne falling towards Theseus the red hourglass shaped marking on her abdomen exposed for the entire world to see.

The Norse Princess watched in morbid fascination as the spider Queen slammed into Theseus wrapping her legs around his body.

The son of Circe's body lurched as the legendary creature created by Athena slammed into him. He staggered under the newfound weight and turned his head to see what had a hold of him. He paled as he saw what and who had a hold of him and began to struggle, but no matter what he did the spider Queen's hold was too strong.

The mother of all spiders began to spew webbing from her mouth moving her arms and legs and sink as she wrapped his body in a tight cocoon of thick pale silver webbing.

Theseus was still struggling inside his new prison when Arachne's needle pointed teeth bit into his neck and began draining his fluids and power. He screamed and begged for his patron's or his mother's help, but it seemed both had forsaken him.

Thrud rose to her feet, being careful not to draw the spider Queen's attention away from her meal and made her way over to Marcus, "So that was your plan?"

"Yeah it was now we need to leave."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not sure how much longer I can control her," Marcus replied with a grimace us beads of sweat began to run down his face.

Thrud looked at him incredulously, "Oh, come on we just beat a guy with multiple demigod's powers, I'm sure we can take an overgrown spider."

Marcus shook his head, "If you have a way to kill every spider on the planet then yes I'm sure we can take her, but as long as there's one spider left on the planet she will not die."

"What! You mean to kill her we have to kill all of her children first?" Thrud exclaimed shocked that a creature could be that powerful.

Marcus turned his gaze to the spider Queen and watched as she finished draining the life from the son of Circe. "Yes when Athena cursed the woman that became Arachne she did more than she realized as long as one of her children is alive then Arachne will never die."

Thrud didn't like the idea of fighting a creature that wouldn't stay down no matter how many times she hit it. She nodded and together the Royal duo began making their way to the door. They had almost reached the door when Theseus's desiccated and web covered remains fell to the ground.

Marcus glanced over his shoulder to see the spider Queen shaking her head while looking around with a look of confusion on her face. When she caught sight of Marcus she released an enraged scream and charged. The Prince of Avalon turned to Thrud, "Run!" They ran towards the door and jumped through it just as the enraged spider Queen snatched at their feet. The Royal duo slammed into the muddy leaf covered ground outside the temple and rolled to a stop.

Thrud looked over her shoulder to see if they had been followed and saw that the spider Queen was pounding against an invisible barrier that prevented her from leaving the temple. She turned to Marcus, "Why can't she leave the temple?"

Marcus smirked, "I wouldn't summon a creature that powerful without insurance. I wove a binding spell into the picture I used to summon her that temple is her new home."

Thrud smiled, "Sneaky." She turned to watch the spider Queen slam her fists against the barrier, "what happens if she escapes, or someone ventures up here?"

That's a good point Marcus said stepping forward, he closed his eyes and used his connection to nature to make the temple sink into the ground. When it was gone he opened his eyes and looked around at the circle of dead forests, "it's too bad I can't do something about the forest."

"Why can't you?"

Marcus shook his head, "The things done on this land have permanently tainted the earth it would take raw magic to fix it."

"You mean like this."

Marcus turned to see Thrud holding out a golden orb that radiated pure magical energy. His eyes widened, "Where did you get that?"

Thrud shrugged, "I picked it up from the altar when Theseus knocked me down. Do you think it's enough?"

Marcus gingerly took the orb and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind to gauge how much magic was inside the orb. After a minute he nodded, "There's more than enough. This must be all the energy Theseus collected from the demigods he killed to free his mistress from her prison."

"Well get to it then," Thrud said with a smile.

Marcus flashed her a smile and walked into the center of the clearing. He knelt down and placed the orb in the center of the ring of dead earth. Still kneeling on the ground, the young Prince closed his eyes and used his connection to nature to force the orb of pure magic into the barren ground.

The ring of dead foliage glowed a bright green as the magic sunk into the earth. Once the magic was in the earth, Marcus used his connection to nature to help new plants grow.

Thrud watched in amazement as a thirty foot tall Ash trees sprouted up in front of Marcus with basil blooms spread throughout its deep green leaves. She looked around wide-eyed as beautiful red Anise flowers filled the clearing. The Norse Princess looked at her friend in amazement. She had no idea that the Fay could create something so beautiful.

Marcus opened his eyes as the last of the magic filtered into the now rich fertile earth. He looked around at what he created and nodded his satisfaction. He turned around to find Thrud staring at him in amazement, "What?"

"That was amazing," Thrud exclaimed as her eyes swept over the beauty her friend had created.

Marcus blushed, but was ecstatic that he did something that impressed the Norse Princess, "It was nothing there's a lot of Fay that could have created something more beautiful than this."

Thrud shook her head, "I beg to differ," she looked curiously at the basil blooms growing throughout the Ash trees foliage, "although I've never seen basil blooms grow out of an ash tree before." She knelt down to the ground and picked one of the anise flowers, "and I don't think these are native to Greece."

Marcus turned to look at the clearing, "There not the plants I chose to grow here have the ability to suppress and weaken evil," he turned back to Thrud, "just a little added security to keep Arachne in check."

Thrud nodded impressed, she had no idea that plants could be used to weaken evil. The more she learned about her fellow royal heir the more she found herself attracted to him. She shook her head of those thoughts, "What do you say we go talk to some Greek deities."

Marcus nodded and together they set about leaving the clearing. Just as they stepped out of the clearing, they vanished in a flash of white light.

_**TGP**_

A voluptuous ocean spirit with aqua blue hair and sea green eyes stood before the Celtic counsel telling them how Llyr had been imprisoned in an island by Marcus and Thrud.

When the blue haired woman finished her tale Danu scowled, she had thought that those royal pest would have died by now, but it appeared that they were more skilled than she thought. She turned to her fellow council members, "" We need to do something about those two they have already defeated three of our most powerful warriors."

"What do you suggest mother?" Dagda asked as he lounged languidly in his chair.

Danu thought for a minute, the two royal heirs seem to be too powerful to take on directly, so if she couldn't hurt them physically she would just have to do it emotionally. With a wave of her hand, the Celtic mother summoned Loki and The White Lady.

A surprise Loki looked around the chamber, "How did I get here?" He demanded.

"I brought you here," Danu answered interlocking her fingers in front of her.

Loki turned to her with narrowed eyes, "How and why?"

Danu smiled nastily pleased that she was finally able to surprise the youngest son of Odin, "You made a deal with this counsel. Until our bargain is done we can summon you anytime we wish."

Loki scowled. He didn't like the idea of someone being able to summon him at their leisure. It would be too easy for these people to summon him into a trap. He was going to have to find a way around this, "So, why am I here?"

Danu stared impassively down at him, "I want you to free the Morrigan from her prison."

Loki frowned, he thought he would've had more time before they demanded the Morrigan be freed, but he guessed he miscalculated, "It will take some time the spell that brat of a prince used to seal the Morrigan into that lay line is a complicated one. I've had very little luck deciphering it" Loki lied easily. He had actually not looked at the Morrigan's prison since he returned to Midgard. He had been too busy studying the information and secrets he had pilfered from Dagda's brain.

Magic flared around Danu and Loki dropped to his knees as he felt the Celtic mother's power for the first time. Sweat poured from his face as he struggled to stand, her power was so heavy and suffocating he could barely breathe. For the first time since he entered the Celtic territory, Loki was afraid. He didn't know if he would survive if he had to fight this woman. Suddenly, her magic disappeared and the pressure vanished. Loki sighed in relief and wiped sweat from his brow before rising to his feet.

"You have one month to free my granddaughter if you do not there will be consequences," Danu said darkly.

Loki nodded and vanished from the room. For the first time, he questioned whether it was a bright idea to ally himself with the Celts.

Once Loki was gone, Danu turned to The White Lady, "Are you ready to get revenge against the people that killed you?"

"More than ready," The White Lady said eager to stain her hands with fresh blood.

Danu nodded, "Good I want you to gather a fleet and head to Avalon it's time we show the Fay the consequences of standing against us."

The White Lady nodded and vanished from the room.

Danu turned to Dagda and he set up straighter in his chair, "Dagda I want you to go throughout our territory and gather every dark creature you can find. If the other pantheons want a war then we will give them a war that they will never forget."

Dagda nodded and vanished.


	8. Chapter 8

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 8**_

Marcus and Thrud appeared in a white room surrounded by the twelve Olympian gods.

The Olympian deities stared down at the royal duo from their thrones with a wide range of emotions. Some were angry that another pantheon had entered their territory. Others were afraid that this may be an attempt at an invasion, but most were just curious or grateful having heard that they had defeated Theseus, the man responsible for killing their children.

Marcus cleared his throat nervously. "Uh, hi," he said in an attempt to break the tense silence that hung in the air.

A snort drew his attention, the Prince of Avalon turned to see a short stocky man with red hair sneering at him. His eyes of crimson flames stared at the young Prince in disgust, "These two defeated Theseus," he shook his head, "undoubtedly he wasn't as strong as we thought I knew we should've let my children take care of him."

A bark of laughter echoed through the room. A woman with long blonde hair and silver eyes shook her head "If my memory serves your children tried and died like everyone else's, Aries"

Aries sprang to his feet his bronze armor glowed with power. He pointed a Greek style short sword at the woman, "Insult my children again Athena and it will be the last thing that you ever do" he snarled.

Athena rose to her feet golden armor appearing on her body. She raised a shield, emblazoned on the shield was a hideous woman with snakes for hair, she leveled her silver spear with a bronze tip at Aries, you are welcome to try you flaming headed monkey.

"Enough," exclaimed a regal looking man with curly silver hair and light blue eyes. He rose to his feet with static electricity dancing across his purple toga and slammed the lightning bolt in his hand onto the floor, causing small bolts of electricity to skitter across the floor.

Athena and Aries bowed their heads "Sorry, Lord Zeus/father."

Zeus nodded and sat down. He then turned to the two royal heirs before him, "Now since you defeated Theseus we will hear what you have to say."

Marcus and Thrud stepped forward, "I'll make this simple," Marcus began, "the Celts are taking more territory from the other pantheons by torturing the worshipers of that pantheon. The more innocent blood that is spilt on a pantheons land. The more power they drained from that pantheon. I am asking you for your help to stop them before they get so powerful that no one can stop them."

A man with short brown hair and a tan face that was covered in a light beard nodded. "I have seen the horrors that the Celts have committed. I have also seen that a man named Mac leer will head to nemesis's prison with an army of ships and try to free her.

Zeus turned to the man, "Are you sure Apollo?"

Apollo's yellow eyes clouded with worry as he nodded, "Very sure."

"Then it's simple, Uncle Poseidon needs to send some of his troops into the sea of monsters to stop the Celtic forces from freeing Nemesis," said Aries.

Apollo shook his head, "That's not what I have foreseen."

"Then what have you foreseen," Poseidon ask speaking for the first time.

Marcus marveled at how accurate the statue was in the sea god's temple. He assumed that Poseidon must have pose for it. Shaking his head he turned to Apollo and waited for him to answer.

Apollo turned to Marcus and Thrud, causing both to tense, "I have foreseen that these two," he gestured to Marcus and Thrud, "will travel to Nemesis's island and defeat her and the Celtic Army that will attempt to free her."

Zeus scowled, "Why should we depend on outsiders to defend us?" Couldn't we just send Aries or Hecate to deal with "Nemesis?"

Apollo shook his head, "If we were to do that they would fail and Olympus would fall."

Aries sprang to his feet, "There is no way some two bit enchantress could defeat me."

Apollo stared at him with cold eyes, "There is no doubting what I have foreseen," said Apollo in a voice that sounded like it was chipped from ice, "if you were to go to Nemesis's island she would defeat you and steal your power and that would ensure Olympus's destruction."

Aries opened his mouth to argue, but Apollo throughout his hand and blasted Aries with a beam of sunlight that sent him stumbling back into his chair.

"Cease this fighting at once," Zeus bellowed in a voice that shook the room.

Apollo turned to his father scowling, "I don't like having my visions questioned."

Zeus scowled and shook his head, "I still don't like leaving our fate up to outsiders. There must be a way for us to save Olympus."

Apollo shook his head at his father stubbornness and pride. If he couldn't get his father to see reason he would just have to try a different approach. "Father," he began choosing his words carefully, "think about this for a minute why should we risk ourselves when we could use this opportunity as a test to see if these outsiders are really worthy of our help"

Zeus thought for a moment while tapping his lightning bolt on the floor, sending more lightning shooting across the marble tiles. After what seemed like an eternity he nodded, "Yes, you are right there is no reason for us to risk ourselves," he turned to Marcus and Thrud, "before we agree to help you, you must prove yourselves worthy. Sail to the sea of monsters, stop this Mac leer and his men from freeing Nemesis, and bring me Nemesis's head. If you do this then we will help you in the coming war. Do you accept this quest?"

Marcus was impressed how skillfully Apollo had manipulated his father into doing what he wanted. Shaking his head the Prince of Avalon thought over the Greeks proposal. He didn't see any other option but to accept the quest, he turned to Thrud, What do you think?

Thrud looked at him, "We need their help against the Celts besides with the two of us working together there's no way Nemesis can defeat us."

Marcus smiled and nodded, Thrud was right as long as they had each other everything would be fine.

"Besides I really want to take a crack at this Nemesis woman. We both saw how strong Theseus was, so I can't wait to test myself against his mistress." Thrud said with an eager smile.

Marcus laughed, but he knew they were going to need to be at their best to defeat Nemesis. Shaking his head the son of Morgan Le Fay turned back to Zeus, "We accept."

Zeus smiled and nodded, "Good, if you survive and succeed in your quest bring Nemesis's head back here."

"And how exactly do we do that," Thrud asked?

Zeus thought for a moment. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a small crystal ball and sent it floating towards Thrud, "If you complete your quest smash that crystal ball and it will bring you back here." With that said he and the rest of the Olympians disappeared.

Marcus looked at the circle of thrones the Greek gods had just vacated. He shook his head and turned to Thrud, "You ready to go?"

Thrud looked at the statues of the Greek gods that decorated the room, she watched as tendrils of fog swirled around them and snaked along the floor. She shivered, "Yeah let's go this place gives me the creeps."

Marcus laughed, "You can fight zombies, sea monsters, and a guy that steals people's hearts, but a few statues and a little fog makes you nervous."

The Norse Princess glared at her friend and punched him in the shoulder, making him wince, "Shut up and get me out of here."

Marcus stopped rubbing his shoulder and bowed, "As you wish fair lady," he went to grab her hand when a voice behind them made him freeze.

"Before you go I would like to speak to you."

The two Royal heirs spun around. Behind them stood a beautiful, short, curvaceous woman with long blonde hair and black eyes. She wore a white toga that showed off her impressive bosom and golden sandals. To torches dangled from a belt around her waist, and a weasel and black dog slept peacefully at her feet.

Marcus stepped in front of Thrud shielding her with his body. Whoever this woman was she radiated ancient magical power and that made him nervous. He cleared his throat and fought to keep his voice steady, "Who are you?"

"I am Hecate, titan of magic and crossroads, and I would like to offer my help to you on your quest."

Marcus narrowed his eyes, "Why?" From what he'd seen the Greek gods didn't like outsiders and they definitely didn't seem like the type to offer them help.

Hecate's hands clenched into fists and tears pooled in the corners of her dark eyes, "Theseus was once the weakest son of Circe until nemesis took him under her wing. He killed more of my children than any other gods, all so he could boost his magical power."

The Queen of the crossroads wiped her eyes and looked at the two before her, "I owe you both the debt for avenging my children, so on the way to the sea of monsters I would like to train you in magic that you're going to need to defeat Nemesis"

Marcus bowed his head. He couldn't imagine losing Thrud or his mother, just the thought of it made his heart ache. Before he could say anything Thrud asked, "What kind of magic?" The Norse Princess was eager to learn more magic since she could not rely on her powers over storms or lightning at the moment.

Hecate smiled and looked them both over, "Well for you my dear, I would teach you shape shifting."

Thrud nodded excitedly, "That's perfect. It would really help me when fighting."

The goddess of magic then turned to Marcus, "As for you I would teach you the darker aspects of magic to help balance you out"

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "Balance me out?"

Hecate nodded, "You are a child of the crossroads which means you can use light and dark magic, but it appears that you have only learned light magic which has weakened you significantly. I can help remedy that."

Marcus wondered what she meant by a child of the crossroads. He shook his head; he would think more on that later right now he had more important things to do. He turned to Thrud, "I'm up for it if you are."

Thrud looked at him, "You know me I'm always up for getting stronger."

Marcus nodded he should've known that Thrud would jump at the chance to learn anything that could help her in battle. He turned to Hecate, "We would gladly accept your help."

Hecate smiled, "You won't regret this I promise." She unclasped one of the torches from her belt and thrust it into the air, White flames billowed from the torch and wrapped around them and they disappeared.

_**TGP**_

Marcus Le Fay floated cross-legged a foot above the deck of his ship as it cut a swift path through the ocean on its way to the sea of monsters. He slowly raised his hand and held it out before him. A ball of red fire burst to life in the center of his palm and the young Prince smiled.

Over the past three weeks, conjuring hellfire was just one of the many things Hecate taught the Royal duo. Marcus was surprised in the changes that happened in his body when he started learning dark magic. It was like he finally discovered a missing piece of himself and everything came into balance. He now had better control over his magic than he ever had before and was faster and stronger than he ever imagined. Shaking his head, the Prince of Avalon floated down to the deck of the ship, untangled his legs, and stood up, "Do you think what we learned will be enough to stop Nemesis?"

Hecate emerged from the stairway leading to the bowels of the ship and walked over to join him, "Your senses have gotten better. You used to have to connect to nature to be able to sense other magical energies."

Marcus smiled at her, "I had a good teacher"

Hecate smiled back and shook her head, "All I did was help you find balance within yourself."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "Are you ever going to tell me what that means?"

Hecate shook her head again, "You'll find out in time," she said mysteriously and turned to stare out at the ocean.

Marcus scowled over the past three weeks Hecate had been dropping hints that he was something more than a Fay and it was driving him crazy. He was brought out of his thoughts when Hecate spoke.

"In answer to your question, I think is long as you and Thrud work together you can do anything."

Marcus nodded when Thrud was by his side he felt more powerful than he ever did alone. Hecate was right as long as he and Thrud work together there was no way the Celts would be able to stop them. He turned to stare out at the ocean, "She should be back any time now."

Two weeks into their training, Thrud mastered everything Hecate had to teach her on shape shifting. After that she spent her time transforming into different sea creatures and scouting the sea for danger. She had swum ahead of the ship to see what kind of dangers they would be facing in the sea of monsters.

Suddenly, a large dolphin jumped up onto the deck of the ship. It flopped around for a moment before turning into the smiling Norse Princess.

Hecate and Marcus clapped politely. They were both impressed how fast she took to shape shifting.

Thrud smiled widely and gave them a little bow. When she straightened up her face turned serious and tension filled the air, "We're about a mile out from the sea of monsters and that place is crawling with Celtic warships."

"Do you know how many?" The Prince of Avalon asked.

"No I don't. They have a large number of sea monsters under their control, I was attacked before I could get an exact count, but there are at least twenty."

"Are you alright?" Marcus asked as he started forward and began to look her over for injuries.

Thrud rolled her eyes, but she was inwardly pleased that Marcus was concerned about her safety, "I'm fine," the Norse Princess assured him, "Now, how are we going to defeat a bunch of warships and a sea full of monsters."

"We'll manage," Marcus assured her still looking her over for injuries.

Eventually Thrud got fed up with his worrying and gently pushed him away, "I'm fine Marcus I promise."

Marcus sighed and looked up at her with a small smile on his face, "I know I just worry when you go off by yourself."

Thrud patted his cheek, "I know, but I'm a big girl I can take care of myself."

Marcus threw back his head and laughed, "Don't I know it, but I still like to be there to watch your back."

They smiled at each other and gazed into each other's eyes.

Hecate cleared her throat causing both to jump and turn away from each other, their cheeks dusted a light pink. The mistress of magic shook her head and wondered when these two were finally going to admit their feelings for each other, "Well, I think it's time I take my leave."

Marcus frowned, he was really hoping once Hecate was on the ship that she would come with them. She knew the train a lot better than they did, "Are you sure you can't come with us."

Hecate scowled, she wished she could go with them and snap Nemesis's neck with her bare hands for ordering the death of her children, but Zeus had decreed that this was to be a test that the Royal heirs would face alone, so she would have to put her faith into these two and hope they ended Nemesis's evil once and for all. She shook her head and forced a smile onto her face, "No this is your test, just do me a favor."

"Anything," said Thrud, she was eternally grateful to the woman who gave her a new skill she could use in battle.

A dark look crossed Hecate's face and her hands clenched into fists at her sides, "When you kill Nemesis, please make "it hurt punish her for all the pain she calls me and my children."

Marcus and Thrud looked at each other and nodded. Marcus turned back to the Queen of the crossroads "We will," he said firmly, "we promise."

Hecate offered them a grateful smile then vanished into thin air.

_**TGP**_

They had barely gone a mile into the sea of monsters when the trouble started. Canon fire filled the air as ships appeared out of nowhere and began firing on them. If that wasn't enough a dark blue sea serpent with light blue fins and malicious yellow eyes wrapped its serpentine body around the ship and began to squeeze.

Marcus conjured a strong wind to deflect the incoming cannonballs then turned his attention to the bigger threat the giant sea serpent entangling his ship. He lashed out with his mind in an attempt to control the beast. He got in easily but nearly lost himself in the beast rage and thirst for blood.

After ten nerve racking minutes, the Prince of Avalon finally managed to get the beast under his control. He opened his eyes and watched as it slowly untangled itself from the ship and waited for orders like a pet dog. Not knowing how long his control would last, Marcus decided to keep it simple. "Defend the ship."

The creature gave what Marcus assumed to be a nod and swam off toward the Celtic vessels.

Thrud watched as the sea serpent smashed into a Celtic ship while spraying acid on another. Screams filled the air as crewmen were covered in acid, or became lunch for the watery beast. The Norse Princess turned to Marcus with a raised eyebrow," Impressive."

Marcus nodded, "Thanks I just hope it last."

"And on that note what do you say we get to Nemesis's island, while our watery friend distracts those ships" Thrud suggested.

"Right," Marcus agreed, he closed his eyes and took control of the currents then summoned a strong wind to propel the ship forward at incredible speeds. The ship shot across the ocean barely touching the surface of the water.

The Royal duo could see the island coming up fast. They were less than a mile from the shore when two more sea serpents burst out of the water. A man with long brown hair and a full beard was standing atop the largest.

Marcus released his control over the currents and dismissed the wind before turning to Thrud, "Go to Nemesis's island and stop her. I'll meet you there after I get done with this guy."

Thrud shook her head, "I'm not leaving you to fight two sea monsters and an unknown opponent alone."

Marcus placed his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes, "You have to we can't let the Celts get Nemesis on their side."

Thrud bit her lower lip, she knew Marcus was right, but after what happened with Llyr. She didn't want to leave him to fight alone. Finally, the Norse Princess nodded.

Marcus smiled, "Everything's going to be fine I promise. I'll meet you on the island when I'm done with this guy and his pets."

"You better," Thrud muttered. Suddenly, she lunged forward and pulled Marcus into a searing kiss.

Marcus stood there stunned for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and deepening the kiss. When the need for oxygen became too great they pulled apart panting breathlessly.

"What was that?" Marcus asked still holding her close.

Thrud caressed his cheek, "Motivation for you to stay alive"

Marcus leaned down and captured her lips in another kiss. When they broke apart he gripped her face with both hands and stared into her eyes, "Please stay alive I couldn't bear it if anything happen to you."

"You to," Thrud murmured softly before pulling away. Without looking back, the Norse Princess turned into a large eagle and flew towards Nemesis's island.

The smallest sea serpent tried to go after her, but Marcus hit it in the face with a blast of hellfire. The watery beast screeched in pain and dived into the ocean in an attempt to douse the flames.

Marcus watched it go with a grim smile, it could stay underwater all it liked the hellfire would burn it to ash. He watched as Thrud made it to the island, he said a silent prayer to any god that was listening, begging them to keep her safe then turned to the man standing silently before him.

The long-haired man applied pressure to the sea serpents head with his foot in the beast slowly lowered him to the deck of the ship.

As he stepped onto the ship Marcus got his first good look at his opponent.

He was short and stocky with long brown hair and a thick beard. Hooks that glinted when they caught the sunlight were tied into his beard with dark green ribbon. He wore a white long sleeve shirt that was stretched taut over his potbelly, dark blue pants, and light brown wooden shoes. A large sword was strapped to his back with a smaller swords strapped to each leg.

He stared at Marcus with emotionless white eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, the brown haired man turned to the sea serpent, "Go stop your brother I won't need you here." He said in a voice as devoid of emotion as his eyes.

The large blue water serpent sunk into the ocean and went to stop its brother from destroying the Celtic ships.

As the sea serpent disappeared the emotionally challenged man turned back to Marcus, "Did you enjoy the kiss?"

Marcus was so surprised by the question it took him a moment to answer, "Yes, I did."

"Good, I'm glad you had a pleasant experience before you died."

Marcus ignored the man's statement, "Are you Mac leer?"

"Yes I am Mac leer, god of sailors and merchants."

Marcus nodded, so this was the man Apollo warned them about. He didn't look or feel very powerful, but after his battle with Theseus he knew that looks could be deceiving. Without a word, he vanished and appeared in front of the brown haired man, he threw a punch at his face, but the god of seamen just tilted his head to the side. The punch flew past his head and ruffled his hair.

In a flash the brown haired man had a sword in his hand and was bringing it down on Marcus's extended arm.

It was only thanks to Marcus's new speed that he didn't lose an arm. He jumped back at the last moment only getting a small cut on his forearm. He looked at Mac leer with new respect, when he said he was the God of sailors and merchants. He didn't expect him to have much skill as a fighter, "You're better than I expected." Marcus complimented as he healed the cut on his arm.

"Most people underestimate me," Mac leer said in his bland voice, "then they die." He charged forward and thrust his sword at Marcus's stomach.

Marcus backpedaled, twisting and turning to dodge the incoming blade. Suddenly, the ship rigging came alive and wrapped around Marcus's arms and legs then hoisted him into the air. The young Prince looked down at Mac leer with wide eyes, "How?"

Mac leer looked up at him, "You shouldn't be surprised, I am the god of ships and sailors after all," he reared back his sword, "for what it's worth you fought well." He thrust his sword forward.

_**TGP**_

As Thrud flew over the tropical greenery that decorated Nemesis's island, she tried not to think about what horrors could be happening to Marcus, but images of him getting eaten by sea serpents kept flashing through her mind.

'I should have stayed' she thought as she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the revenge goddess. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see a gray blur shoot from the heavy vegetation blow. The feathered Princess froze in mid-air as a hideous woman appeared before her.

She was tall with limbs like tree branches. A pair of bat wings protruded from her back, and a mass of black cobras writhed on top of her head.

Black blood oozed from the cracks that littered her gray skin and dripped down to stain her tattered white dress. Her yellow eyes shined maliciously as she raised a large bony hand and pointed an ebony clawed finger at the Norse Princess. "You are trespassing on Lady Nemesis's island," she hissed in a voice that sounded like angry cats, "all trespassers must die."

Before Thrud could react, the black cobras on top of the woman said rose up and spit amber liquid. The moment the liquid came in contact with her feathers it hardened, causing her wings to dip and sending her plummeting towards the jungle blow.

_**TGP**_

Thrud crashed through the jungle canopy smashing into multiple tree branches before landing on a soft bulb shaped plant. She changed back with a groan, thankful that she landed on something soft. Suddenly the bulb shaped plant opened, to reveal a pink inside covered in row upon row of needle pointed teeth.

The Norse Princess screamed and rolled off just before the monstrous plant snap shut. She hit the ground with a thump and tried to use her arms to push herself up, but found them pinned to her sides by the hard amber liquid.

After a few minutes of working, she finally managed to get herself to her knees, and then rise to her feet. Before she could look around a catlike screech rent the air. She heard the hideous woman crashing through the forest canopy after her, so she did the only thing she could think of… she ran.


	9. Chapter 9

11

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 9**_

Thrud staggered through the forest ignoring the pain in her back while avoiding man eating plants as she made her way through the tropical forest that covered Nemesis's island. She rubbed her arms against the trees she passed in an attempt to scrape off the hard amber substance that pinned her arms to her sides, but all she succeeded in doing was removing tree bark from the trees.

She could hear the gray skinned monstrosity smashing the trees close behind her. She ducked behind a nearby palm tree and watched as the snake haired beast flew past, the tips of her gray bat wings clipping nearby trees as she passed.

The Norse Princess sighed in relief as her pursuer disappeared into the forest then scowled at her own weakness. She hated hiding like a coward, she was a warrior she should stand and fight like one, but she couldn't not with this amber snake venom pinning her arms to her sides.

She slammed her imprisoned arms into the tree in frustration. If only I could shed my skin she thought longingly.

She paused at that thought as she remembered something the Queen of the crossroads told her to motivate her during her training.

Hecate had said that if she grew skilled enough in shape shifting she could use an animal's ability without transforming into the animal. She thought about that, snakes could shed their skin. If she could somehow shed her skin like a snake then she would be free to use her arms.

Deciding to give it a try, the Norse Princess closed her eyes and imagined the skin on her arms peeling away. It started slowly a small crack appeared on top of her shoulders then spread out going all the way down her arms. She winced and blood splattered across the ground as her old skin fell away.

After ten grueling minutes, her arms were finally free and she sat on the ground panting, she winced as the forest air hit her tender new skin. She closed her eyes and pictured what her arms used to look like, she sighed in relief as her arms returned to normal.

After taking a minute to get her breath back, Thrud climbed to her feet. With a thought her golden armor spilled out of her torc and covered her body like a second skin. She then hopped into the trees and continued her search for Nemesis.

_**TGP**_

Marcus hung suspended over the deck of the ship entangled in its rigging. He watched as Mac leer drew back his sword and thrust it towards his unprotected stomach. Just before the blade connected, the Prince of Avalon lashed out with his mind, causing Mac leer to freeze and drop his sword.

Seizing his chance, Marcus untangled himself with a thought and dropped onto the deck. He hit the deck rolling, scooped up Mac leer's fallen sword, and stabbed him in the heart just as he regained his senses.

Mac leer looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest with a stunned expression on his face. He looked up at Marcus with blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. "You fought well boy," he rasped. He then fell onto the deck with a heavy thud.

Marcus sighed in relief glad that his battle was finally over. He made a mental note to thank Hecate for teaching him how to control the minds of other things besides animals. Shaking his head, the young Prince was just about to summon a strong wind to propel the ship forward when an angry roar ripped through the air.

He looked around to see the sea monster he had controlled and its big brother looming over the ship, neither one look too happy to find their master dead. Before, he could react both sea monsters lunged forward and smashed the ship to pieces.

For a moment, there was nothing but the wreckage of the clipper ship floating on the ocean then the two sea monsters exploded from the water, flailing around in a desperate attempt to remove the silver chains that were now wrapped around their necks.

Marcus stood on a piece of his old ship holding the other end of the chains. He lashed out with his mind and forced the sea beast into submission. Once they had calmed down, he snapped the chains and the collared sea serpents took off toward Nemesis's island.

As the sea serpents pulled him forward, Marcus prayed that Thrud was okay. You better not have died on me. He thought as he gazed determinedly at the approaching island.

_**TGP**_

Thrud dodged a black claw from the gray skinned monstrosity that knocked her out of the sky, and cursed herself again for not turning her armor invisible. She had barely gone a mile into the forest, when the gray skin creature found her again; dive bombed her from above, and tackled her to the ground.

She rolled to one side as her enemies snakes rose up and spit amber liquid. The amber liquid splattered onto the ground, covering it in hard amber rock

Thrud concentrated and a thick veil of dark gray storm clouds swirled above her. A thin bolt of lightning jutted down from the clouds and slammed into the creature's chest, sending her stumbling backwards.

The Norse Princess scowled, it seemed that she still didn't have full control over her elements. It looked like she would have to do this the hard way. As the snake haired monster rose to her feet, Thrud asked the question that had been on her mind since this monster had knocked her out of the sky, "What are you?"

The gray skinned monster smiled, revealing yellow fangs, "I am a winged Gorgon, the product of Medusa sleeping with a dragon, but you can call me Melody."

Melody opened her mouth and shot red-hot flames at the Norse Princess. The flames flew through the air and slammed into the Norse Princess, burning everything around her to ash.

The daughter of Medusa laughed maniacally and eagerly waited for the flames to die down.

When the flames finally died down, Melody walked onto the ash covered ground and looked for the Norse Princess, but all she found was a large hole surrounded by ashes and blackened trees.

The daughter of Medusa scowled, "Come out and face me," she shouted into the surrounding forest.

For a moment, there was nothing but the rustling of palm trees and the snapping of Venus fly traps then the ground began to rumble. Suddenly a humongous wormlike serpent a hundred feet long exploded from the ground its yellow eyes gleaming with rage.

Melody tried to take flight, but her leg got caught in the creature's wormlike mouth and its mouth constricted around her leg. Thousands of needle pointed teeth dug in to her leg and severed it just below the knee. She screamed in pain and black blood splattered the creature as she fell to the ground, sobbing as she clutched the bloody stump where her left leg used to be.

The serpent like worm hacked up the leg then bent to one side and transformed into the Norse Princess. She grimaced and spit a glob of black blood from her mouth, "Nasty," she then turned to the downed winged Gorgon.

"It's over," she told her transforming her right arm into a golden sword and stalking forward.

Melody stared at her defiantly as her face paled from the loss of blood, "Even if you kill me, you won't leave this island alive."

"We'll see," Thrud said as she brought her golden sword down on the winged Gorgon's overly long neck, black blood spurted from her neck as her head was severed from her body.

Thrud sighed in relief, but before she could continue on her way. A large hairy, barrel chested creature, with large arms, and a bulls head exploded from the trees carrying a massive club. The enraged Minotaur raised its club and slammed it into Thrud's armored side, sending her flying through the forest.

Thrud groaned as she lifted a tree off her chest. She was really starting to hate this island, but she guessed that it was better than her time in the Celtic prison. An enraged roar brought her out of her thoughts, the Norse Princess turned to see the Minotaur charging towards her, its red eyes burning with animalistic fury.

She climbed to her feet and went to meet it, she thrust her golden sword forward, but her blade could not penetrate the Minotaur's furry hide.

A hairy fist caught the daughter of Thor in the face and sent her stumbling backwards. Thrud shook off the blow and looked up to see the Minotaur charging towards her, she dismissed her sword and waited for her hairy opponent to get closer.

When the legendary beasts swung its club again, Thrud caught the club and used the beast momentum to throw it through the forest.

The bullheaded creature gave us apprised roar as it flew through the air smashing through trees.

Closing her eyes, the Norse Princess used shape shifting to cause the muscles in her legs and arms to expand, she then charged after her bovine foe.

_**TGP**_

The moment Marcus stepped onto Nemesis's island he sensed thousands of monsters. Curious as to why there were so many monsters on an island that was supposed to be Nemesis's prison. The Prince of Avalon opened his connection to nature to boost his telepathic powers and connected his mind to every monster on the island.

Images flashed through his mind of demigods and gods alike throwing the worst monsters of Greek mythology onto Nemesis's island in order to kill her.

Marcus gritted his teeth and clinched his fist, how dare the Greek gods send them to an island crawling with their worst monsters without warning them. They would pay for that and if anything happen to Thrud, he would make sure all of them died a very painful and slow death.

The son of Morgan Le Fay was brought out of his thoughts by a wolf's howl. He looked up to see a ten foot tall brown haired werewolf charging at him its claws poised to rip him to pieces.

Marcus plunged a hand into his trench-coat and pulled out a handful of silver throwing stars. With a flick of his wrist he sent them flying at the approaching werewolf.

The werewolf howled in pain as the silver stabbed into its body. It fell backward with steam rising from the wounds the silver had inflicted.

Marcus approached the brown haired beast cautiously and watched as it began to shrink. Before long, the werewolf was replaced by a thin brown haired man with light blue eyes. He looked at Marcus appreciatively, "Thank you for relieving me of my curse," he gasped raggedly before his eyes closed and his chest stilled.

Marcus bowed his head and said a silent prayer for the man before heading into the forest in search of Thrud.

_**TGP**_

As Thrud closed the distance between herself and her bovine enemy the Minotaur drew back its large hairy arm and through a punch at the Norse Princess's head. The daughter of Thor dodged the blow and used its extended arm as a springboard to launch herself over its massive body. When she landed behind it she spun around, grabbed it by the horns, and flipped it over her body, breaking its horns off in the process.

The Minotaur landed on the ground with a crash, and Thrud quickly put some distance between her and the legendary beast.

The Minotaur rose unsteadily to its feet and raised its hand to the stubs for its horns used to be. It let out an enraged roar as it realized they were gone and charge the Norse Princess, a steady stream of slobber flying from its mouth as it ran.

Thrud spun the horns in her hand like a pair of daggers and went to meet it for the second time. She ducked as it swung its club and stabbed one of the horns in between its ribs.

The furry beast grunted and staggered backwards.

Seizing her chance, the Norse Princess charge forward, leapt into the air, and drove the second horn through the top of its head.

The Minotaur froze and its eyes glazed over before it fell backwards with a thunderous crash.

Thrud sighed in relief and allowed her muscles to deflate. She winced as pain flared through her body. It felt like multiple bones in her body were broken. She could feel splintered pieces of bone jabbing into muscle. Clearing her mind, the Norse Princess tried to use shape shifting to heal her body, but found she was too tired and too low on magic to do so.

With a sigh, the daughter of Thor began making her way through the forest intent on finding a place to hide, she winced with each step is her broken bones ground together.

Suddenly, a tornado swept through the forest. The Norse Princess was lifted off her feet and thrown through the air. She slammed into a tree with the force of being hit by an elephant and crumpled to the ground.

The battle with the Minotaur put a large strain on her already battered body, being slammed into a tree by a tornado was just too much for the Norse Princess. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was the sound of approaching footsteps.

_**TGP**_

Marcus walked into a clearing made up of ash and burn trees. He saw a beheaded body in the center of the clearing and walked over and knelt down beside it. He was surprised to find that it was a winged Gorgon, something he had only read about in books.

He placed a hand on its body and used an ability he discovered when he was training with Hecate called psychometric to discover what happened. Images began to flash through his mind, he saw it to confront Thrud in her eagle form and knock her out of the air by covering her wings and its ochre venom. He saw the creature chasing Thrud through the forest and then losing track of her. Finally, he saw their last meeting that resulted in the creature losing its head.

The Prince of Avalon removed his hand from the creature's body and glared down at it, "You are lucky Thrud let you off so easy for I would've made your death a thousand times more painful." With his piece said, Marcus rose to his feet and followed the path of fallen trees that led out of the burned section of forest.

_**TGP**_

Thrud awoke tied to a stake in the middle of a small village. She was surrounded by log cabins, there were cracks in their stone chimneys and they look like they hadn't been used in quite a while.

"Ah, good you're awake I thought I was going to have to kill you while you were unconscious," said a woman's voice.

Thrud gazed in the direction the voice came from with her one good eye. She found herself looking at a tall, regal woman with proud features. She wore tarnished gold armor and held a staff topped with a bronze circle that had a piece missing.

The Norse Princess scowled as she recognized the woman from her fight with Theseus, "Nemesis."

Nemesis clapped her hands excitedly and smiled, but the smile didn't reach her cold lifeless eyes, "Oh good you recognize me. I don't get many worshipers anymore, so it's nice to be recognized."

Thrud ignored Nemesis and looked around the small village, "What is this place?"

Nemesis glanced around her then waved her hand dismissively, "It's nothing really the Greek gods just tried to imprison other prisoners here once," she looked around her, "they created this nice little sediment, but were eaten by the monsters," she turned back to Thrud, "they don't try to kill me of course. I am their Queen", she shook her head, "it's ironic really. The monsters they put here to kill me now serve me more faithfully than any worshiper ever did."

Thrud looked at her and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her head, "So, if you're the Queen of this island why join the Celts, and why kill the greatest demigod children."

"I killed the god's children for power. As for why I joined the Celts that simple… revenge of course," Nemesis stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world", for daring to imprison me on this island all because I tried to become more powerful than Zeus, the paranoid bastard."

Nemesis shook her head, "Now enough talking about my past," she conjured a glowing ceremonial silver dagger, "now hold still while I cut out your heart."

Thrud laughed in her face, "Good luck with that, there's no way you can pierce my armor."

Nemesis paused, "You know what your right that pesky armor is in the way," she gestured languidly with her free hand and Thrud's golden armor exploded into a thousand pieces.

_**TGP**_

Marcus removed his hand from the body of a Minotaur that had been stabbed with its own horns and shook his head while sighing. Thrud you never cease to amaze me to be able to take down a winged Gorgon and a Minotaur after falling out of the sky is truly incredible. He thought to himself.

Suddenly, an agonizing scream brought the Prince of Avalon out of his thoughts. "Thrud," He screamed to jumping to his feet. He opened his connection to nature and pushed every other creature on the island to the back of his mind.

He gritted his teeth as he found her, her magical energy radiated pain. He began to race through the forest unconsciously unraveling the seal that bound his power as he ran.

"Hang on Thrud I'm coming," he thought as he sprinted through the forest, his body blanketed in a silver aura.

_**TGP**_

Thrud screamed and screamed. Injuries she didn't even know she had suddenly flared into existence, every bone felt like it was cracked or broken. Her muscles felt like they were roasting in fire.

She didn't realize how much her armor dulled her pain until she didn't have it any more. Finally, the Norse Princess used all her warrior's constitution to push down the pain. She looked at Nemesis with beads of sweat running down her face, "How did you do that?"

"You didn't think my darling Theseus was killing demigods just to increase his own power did you?" Nemesis asked shaking her head, "Oh, no I gave him very specific instructions. I told him to kill one demigod that belonged to one of the twelve Olympian's until he had killed one from each of them."

She shook her head, "of course the fool had to go overboard when killing the children of Hecate, but I can't really blame him after being born the weakest son of Circe."

The Queen of revenge smiled at the Norse Princess, "Oh, you should have seen the anguish on Artemis's face when Theseus killed her only daughter, it was delightful."

Thrud shook her head, "You're insane and that still doesn't explain how you destroyed my armor."

The joy that Nemesis had on her face as she recounted all the horrible things she had Theseus do slipped away, and she shook her head in disappointment, "And here I thought you were smart enough to understand."

"You see dear," she began slowly as if she was talking to a child, "each time Theseus killed a demigod and sacrificed their hearts on my altar I gained the majority of that demigod's power." She explained watching Thrud's face carefully, "of course a small portion had to go to Theseus, but as is my right as a goddess I kept the majority of the power for myself."

Thrud's eyes widened as she realized Nemesis now had the powers of the twelve Olympian gods.

"Ah, I see your beginning to understand," Nemesis said seeing the look of horror on Thrud's face, "that's right I contained the power of all twelve Olympian's.

Of course the small portion I contain is not as powerful as the gods themselves, but I can always use their desire for revenge to boost my power." She bent down and picked up a shard of Thrud's armor, "so you see with my new power it was easy for me to destroy your armor," she turned the peace over in her hand and held it up to the sunlight, "no matter how well made."

Thrud schooled her features into an emotionless mask, "It doesn't matter you won't get a chance to use your power. Marcus and I will stop you before you can ever attack Greece."

Nemesis let out a high cold laugh filled with mocking, "How exactly do you plan to do that?" She asked once she had gotten herself under control, "your body is broken and your boyfriend is dead."

Thrud forced down her fear that Nemesis might be right and glared defiantly at her. "It doesn't matter what you say or what you do. I will get out of this and when I do this island will run red with blood."

Nemesis shook her head amused by Thrud's bravo, "I don't think so darling, because it ends here for you," she walked forward and raised her glowing silver dagger.

Suddenly, an invisible force slammed into the Queen and sent her cartwheeling through the air. She slammed into a log cabin and the building collapsed on top of her.

"Thrud are you alright?"

Thrud turned to see Marcus emerge from the forest, a silver aura dancing around his body. He walked over and stood before her and looked her over with a critical eye, "Holy aisles of Avalon, what the heck happened to you?" He asked as he took in her bruised face and the odd sections of bone that pushed against her skin.

"I could ask you the same thing," Thrud countered while gazing at his glowing silver form.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to one side, "What are you talking about?"

Thrud sighed then grimaced as new pain shot through her ribs. "You're glowing silver," she said trying to keep the pain out of her voice.

Marcus looked down and saw that he was indeed glowing silver. It was then he realized that the seal that bound his power had been released. At first, the Prince of Avalon was afraid he would not be able to control his new power, but he clamped down on that fear and pushed it down quickly. He couldn't afford to think about that right now not with Thrud in her current condition.

He shook his head and placed two fingers on Thrud's forehead. The Norse Princess gasp as Marcus's new more potent magic flowed into her body. She felt it repairing all the damage that had been done to her body as she trekked through the forest.

When the last of Thrud's injuries disappeared, Marcus removed his hand from her head, and the Norse Princess sagged in exhaustion. Even though her injuries had been healed, the Norse Princess had exhausted all of her strength in her previous battles. She looked at Marcus through heavy lidded eyes. "Thank you," she muttered before giving into unconsciousness.

Marcus smiled glad that the woman he loved was safe. He waved his hand and the ropes that bound her to the stake unraveled. He caught her as she fell forward and lifted her into his arms. He began making his way out of the small village.

Where do you think you're going?"

Marcus turned to see a woman he recognized as Nemesis rising from the remains of the cabin he had knocked her into. There was a cut above her right eye, but otherwise she looked fine, which disappointed the Prince of Avalon. He was hoping that trip into the cabin would stun her for at least a little while.

"I'm getting Thrud out of here." He didn't care about the Greek gods quest anymore all he wanted to do was get Thrud somewhere safe.

Nemesis shook her head, "I'm afraid I can't allow that," she gestured sharply and Thrud vanished from his arms to reappear trapped inside a small crystal dangling from a rope around her neck.

Marcus glared at the Queen of revenge, "Give her back," he demanded, "you don't need her."

Nemesis shook her head, "No, I can't do that," she offered the young Prince an apologetic smile that he knew wasn't sincere, "If you're here that means you killed my ride, so now I need something to entertain me while I wait for another boat to get here, plus you're dead bodies would make a nice gift to the Celts. They really want you dead you know."

Marcus continued to glare at her, "Oh I know, but I don't die easy."

Nemesis smiled, "That is what's going to make this so much fun," she said as they began circling each other, "after all it wouldn't be much fun if I killed you too quickly." She charged forward at incredible speed, a light blue glow outlining her body.

Marcus sidestepped the Queen of revenge, but she pivoted on her heel and kicked him in the ribs, sending him stumbling backwards. He regained his balance and looked up to see Nemesis holding her staff like a bat. She slammed the copper ball on top of it into his chest. The force of the blow lifted him up off his feet and sent him flying into a nearby cabin.

Marcus lay on top of what used to be a kitchen table and wondered how Nemesis was so powerful. He reviewed the battle in his mind, he remembered her aura being blue when she rushed him, but then changing to gold when she smashed her staff into his chest. What could cause her aura to change colors like that? He thought as he rose to his feet, brushed remains of the table off his clothes, and walked out of the hole his body made to face Nemesis.

"Well I'll give you this," Nemesis began with a smug smile on her face as she saw him emerge from the cabin, "you sure can take a beating."

"Oh I can assure you were just getting started," Marcus countered while glancing at the crystal around her neck.

Nemesis caught his glance and smiled, "Well, come on oh mighty sorcerer," she said mockingly, "come retrieve your lover if you can."

Marcus snarled. It infuriated him that nemesis had the audacity to take Thrud hostage. All for the sake of having fun. He shook his head, took a calming breath, and reminded himself that Nemesis could feed off his anger. He reached into his trench-coat and pulled out a shrunken spear, he forced a little bit of magic into it, and it elongated to six foot long with a gold point.

He began to spin the spear as it spun dark storm clouds filled the sky and a heavy wind blew through the village.

Nemesis watched intrigued as the weather around her changed, "Come on boy, show me what you've got," she challenged.

Suddenly, Marcus stopped spinning his spear and pointed it at the Queen of revenge. All of a sudden a lightning bolt cut through the sky and slammed into Nemesis's chest, sending her flying backwards with the scream. Before she hit the ground, Marcus swept the spear through the air and a hurricane materialized around her and hurled her through the air.

She slammed through the rest of the log cabins, reducing them to rubble.

Nemesis stumbled to her feet with pieces of wood and glass protruding from her body. The golden blood of the gods oozed from her body to form into a large puddle on the ground. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a forest green aura and her wounds began to heal.

There it is again Marcus thought as her aura changed, he watched as the wounds finished healing and she straightened up.

I'm impressed boy I honestly wasn't expecting you to do something like that, but it won't be enough to beat me. Her aura flashed blue as she charged again.

Marcus pointed his spear toward the ground, lightning shot down from the sky blowing the ground in front of him apart and sending Nemesis into the air. He pointed his spear at the goddess and more lightning shot from the sky.

Just before the lightning struck the Queen of revenge her aura changed to white. As the lightning struck she absorbed it then sent it back at the Prince of Avalon.

Marcus raised his spear to absorb the lightning, but he lost sight of Nemesis.

"You've lost," said a familiar voice behind him.

Marcus spun around to see Nemesis standing behind him with a purple aura. She thrust her hand at his stomach and it transformed into a Panther's claw. He stumbled backwards, dropping his spear in his haste to avoid her claw, but he wasn't fast enough and came away with three deep gashes on his stomach.

Nemesis casually walked forward and picked up the spear. She spun it in her hand, "This is a nice weapon," she said examining it with a critical eye, "I think I'll keep it."

Marcus ignored her. He bowed his head and started murmuring a spell under his breath.

Nemesis looked at him, "What nothing to say?" She shook her head, "it's just as well. I have grown bored with this fight." She walked forward and raised the spear.

Suddenly, the spear transformed into a silver boa constrictor with red eyes. It wrapped itself around her body pinning her legs together and pinning her arms to her sides. It then rose up and sunk it silver fangs into her neck.

The Queen of revenge screamed in pain and her aura flashed gold as she used her incredible strength to break the Silver serpent's hold. The Silver serpent exploded and she fell to the ground panting. Her body felt like it was on fire. She looked down at her arms and saw that her veins were glowing red as the serpents venom spread throughout her body.

"What did you do to me?" She demanded as beads of sweat began to pop out on her face.

Marcus straightened up and forced magic into the wounds on his stomach, causing them to scar over. He smiled down at Nemesis and made a note to thank Hecate for teaching him how to create curses. "It took me a while but I finally figured it out."

"What are you talking about?" Nemesis asked as her skin began to turn blue.

"I wondered why your aura kept changing colors, Marcus began as he watched his curse work, you see a person's aura doesn't change from the time their born it only varies in shades depending on what kind of life they lived, but your aura kept changing. "

Marcus shook his head, "It wasn't till your aura changed to white and you absorb my lightning that I figured out what was going on. Each time your aura changed you were using a different god's ability that's why you had Theseus sacrificing demigod's hearts to you."

"Quit bragging about how smart you are and tell me what you've done to me," Nemesis snarled as her chest tightened and it became harder to breathe.

Marcus smiled nastily, "It's quite simple. I cursed you"

"Cursed me?" Nemesis rasped as her arms gave out and she fell flat on to the ground.

"That's right," Marcus said as he knelt down before her, "all that power you had your minion kill for has been turned to poison and is now killing you." He leaned forward and ripped the crystal that contained Thrud from around her neck. As he drew back he whispered in her ear, "You should have never tried to kill the woman I love."

He stood up, slipped the crystal in his pocket, and flipped Nemesis over with his foot.

"This isn't over," Nemesis gasped glaring up at him, "you can't kill revenge. The Celts will come to free me, and when they do me and the rest of the monsters on this island will erase Greece and the rest of civilization from the face of the earth."

Marcus stared down at the woman as she let out an insane laugh, "That will never happen," he told her as he withdrew a sword from his trench-coat.

She just continued laughing envisioning all the horror she and her monsters would commit when she escaped this island. Her laughter cut off abruptly as Marcus's sword cut through the air and sliced into her neck, severing her head from her body.

Marcus picked up her head, turned on his heel, and disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10

_**The Gray Prince Chapter 10**_

Thrud awoke to the feeling of a soft bed under her and the smell of melting candle wax. She tensed the last thing she remembered was Marcus healing her on Nemesis's island. Cautiously, she cracked open one eye; she saw a raftered ceiling cast in shadow by the familiar dance of a candle flame.

Relaxing, she sat up and looked around. She recognized the large four poster bed and the single dresser and mirror combo against the far wall. She was back in the Melissani Inn, but the question was how did she get here?

The sound of slow rhythmic breathing brought her out of her thoughts. She turned and saw Marcus sitting cross-legged in midair with his eyes closed. She stretched forth her hand and placed it on his knee.

Marcus floated cross-legged in midair as he focused on trying to keep his full power in check. Ever since he returned from Nemesis's island he had been having fluctuations of power that cause damage to anything around him. If that wasn't enough he had been hearing dark whispers in the back of his mind telling him to do horrible things. A hand on his knee caused his eyes to snap open and the only window in the room to explode.

Thrud raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," the young Prince muttered rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. With a wave of his hand the window repaired itself.

"So," Thrud began as she looked him over. Power radiated from his body and there were flecks of emerald in his purple eyes, "I see you unsealed your power."

Marcus eyes clouded with pain as he remembered Thrud's agonizing scream, "It was an unconscious decision. When I heard you scream I wanted to get to you as fast as possible, nothing was going to stand in my way not even my own fear."

Thrud was touched that Marcus unsealed his power for her, but she couldn't stand a look of pain in his eyes. Thrud grabbed him by the hand, pulled him onto the bed and cupped his face in her hands, "Hey, I'm okay now, so there's no reason to look so sad."

Marcus looked away from her, "I sent you into the forest alone. I should've gone with you. Maybe if I had you wouldn't have gotten so injured."

Thrud forced him to meet her eyes, "Hey, I'm not some damsel that needs protecting, and there was no way you could've gone with me someone had to stay in take care of Mac leer and his ships. My injuries are Nemesis's fault, no one else's "Do you understand?" She finished firmly.

Marcus nodded, but Thrud could see his eyes were still heavy with guilt. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled away she said, "You have nothing to feel guilty for, you saved my life."

Marcus nodded dumbly with a stunned expression on his face, he shook his head and gazed up at her with a sly smile on his face, "So, does this mean we're dating?"

Thrud laughed, "Well, I certainly hope so after the way you returned my kiss on the ship."

Marcus nodded, "Good, I've loved you for the longest time, but I didn't know if you felt the same way."

Thrud shook her head, "Men you're all so dense it's amazing our species survived. "Now tell me what happened after I left the ship."

Marcus nodded, "After you left one of Mac leer sea serpents tried to follow you, I hit it in the face with hellfire and it dived into the ocean in an attempt to put out the flames."

"Mac leer had the sea serpent he was riding on lower him to the deck. He told me that it wouldn't be enough to save you that you would eventually die." Marcus scowled and his fist clenched at the very thought of Thrud dying."

"Hey," she said hugging him close, "I'm fine now. Now what happened next?"

Marcus shook his head and relaxed into Thrud's embrace, "Mac leer had his sea dragon lower him to the deck of our ship and we began circling each other. We trash talked back and forth for a while then I charged forward and threw a punch at his head."

Marcus looked at Thrud with a bemused smile on his face, "You know for a god of ships he had very good reflexes. He leaned his head to the side to dodge my punch and brought a sword down on my extended arm."

"I dodged and we fought back and forth."

Marcus shook his head and stared out the window at the night sky, "He pushed me back and was able to imprison me in the rigging of our ship, leaving me suspended above the deck. He told me I had fought well then drew back his sword to stab me in the stomach. "

"Just before he stabbed me, I lashed out with my mind causing him to freeze and drop his sword. In that moment, I untangled myself with a thought, picked up the sword he dropped and stabbed him before he could regain his bearings."

Thrud whistled impressed and lean forward eager to hear what happened next.

Marcus blushed at Thrud's admiration and had to take a moment to get himself back under control before continuing, "As Mac leer's body fell to the ground I sighed in relief thinking it was finally over, but then a terrifying roar ripped the air. I looked up to see the sea dragon I controlled and its big brother looming over the ship. They'd lunged forward in an attempt to eat me, smashing the ship in the process. I floated beneath the water dodging enraged sea dragons as they tried to eat me."

"When they were both far enough away from me I reached into my pocket and pulled out two thin silver chains. The next time they attack me I lashed them around their necks. We struggled for a moment, they burst out of the water in an attempt to break the chains and get away from me, pulling me up with them. I managed to get a piece of our destroyed ship under me before I browbeat the beast into submission and had them pull me to Nemesis's island."

Thrud stared at Marcus with wide eyes as if she was seeing him for the first time, "You tamed sea dragons that used to belong to a Celtic god?"

Marcus rubbed the back of his head, "It was nothing I'm sure you could have done it."

Thrud shook her head, "Maybe with a lot of hitting and screams of pain," after taking a moment to marvel at Marcus's accomplishment she looked at him, "So, what happened next?"

"When I arrived at the island a massive brown haired werewolf burst out of the forest. Its yellow eyes gleaming with hunger and its sharp claws poised to tear me to pieces. I plunged a hand into my trench coat and pulled out a handful of silver throwing stars. I sent them flying through the air and they stabbed into the beast chest, causing him to howl in pain."

Marcus looked away in shame, "As he died he transform back into a man and thanked me for relieving him of his curse, I can't believe I killed an innocent man"

Thrud grabbed his face and turned him to face her. She looked him in the eyes while rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs," It was either you or him. "She leaned forward and kissed him on the four head, "besides if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now."

Marcus smiled at her and pulled her close, "Thank You, after that I headed into the forest in search of you."

Thrud nodded and they sat there in silence for a few moments. Finally, Marcus asked, "So, what happened to you on Nemesis's island?" He already knew what happened from reading the minds of the monster she defeated, but he wanted to hear it from her.

Thrud gently pushed away from him and looked him in the eyes, "Well, after I left the ship I flew to nemesis's island," she looked at Marcus, "as I flew over the lush tropical forest I couldn't help but think that I shouldn't have left you behind."

Marcus pulled her close, "Everything's fine we're both alive and our enemies are dead, there's not much more you could ask for."

Thrud nodded into his chest and continued her voice slightly muffled, "I was so lost in thought that I didn't see the winged Gorgon until she was right in front of me. She told me all trespassers must die than her snakes rose up and spit amber liquid onto my wings that hardened and pinned my wings to my sides."

"I felt through the trees of the tropical canopy, hitting multiple branches on the way down and breaking more than a few bones, before landing on a soft bulbous plant." Thrud pushed away from Marcus and look down in shame, "I rose to my feet, my arms were still pinned to my sides, so I did the only thing I could… "I ran," she shook her head, "I ran like a coward."

Marcus placed two fingers under her chin and lifted her head up so she was looking him in the eye, "Listen to me, you are the bravest, most beautiful, most courageous, and deadly woman I've ever met. There is no one in this world that is less of a coward than you."

Thrud's face turned pink at Marcus's words, "Do you really think that?"

Marcus shook his head and looked at her incredulously, "You have faced down zombie armies, gods, and legendary monsters. Do you really have to ask?"

Thrud sniffed and wiped tears from her eyes, "Thanks."

Marcus smiled, "No problem. Now what happened next?"

"I hid behind a tree and shed the skin on my arms," Marcus wrinkled his nose at that, Thrud slapped him on the arm, "Don't make that face we've seen worse."

"We may have seen worse, but this is the first time one of us has done something that disgusting," Marcus countered with a shudder.

Thrud shook her head, "Anyways," after I could use my arms, I called upon by golden armor and headed off into the forest in search of Nemesis."

"I had barely gone a mile into the forest when the winged Gorgon dive bombed me from the sky. I hit the ground hard and rolled to my feet. We started circling each other. I found out the winged Gorgon's name was Melody and that she was the product of Medusa sleeping with a dragon. She spat fire at me, and I sunk into the ground, transformed into a wormlike dragon, and waited for her to get close."

"When she was standing on top of me I burst out of the ground and bit her left leg off. She fell to the ground clutching her bloody stump of a leg. I transform back and went to stand over her. She yelled threats at me then I chopped off her head."

Marcus shook his head, "And you said you were a coward."

"After that," Thrud continued ignoring Marcus's statement, "I was attacked by a Minotaur. He slammed his giant club into my side, sending me plowing through trees. I climbed to my feet and went to meet it again. It swung its club at me. I caught the club and threw it through the air."

"While it was down I used shape shifting to increase my muscle mass, so I could fight it more easily. I charged forward, it threw a punch at my head I dodged and used its extended arm as a springboard to jump over it. I landed behind it and grabbed it by the horns. I flipped it over my body, breaking its horns off in the process. I then stabbed it with its own horns."

"I thought it was over until a tornado swept through the forest and slammed me into a tree knocking me unconscious."

Marcus nodded, "And that's when you were captured by Nemesis."

Thrud nodded, "Yes, so, what happened after I passed out?"

"Well after I healed you…"

"How did you do that anyway?" Thrud interrupted, as far as she knew Marcus didn't know healing magic.

I don't know, I think my magic just responded to my desire to see you healed, the young Prince shook his head, "either way I think one of us needs to learn healing magic."

Thrud nodded, "Agreed, now what happened after you healed me?"

"Well I scooped you up in my arms and began to leave the village."

"Wait, what about the quest the Greeks sent us on?"

Marcus narrowed his eyes and his hands begin to shake", I didn't care about that anymore. They didn't tell us that they put monsters on nemesis's island as well as powerful enchantments to keep her there," he got off the bed and started to pace the room, "they were perfectly content to sacrifice our lives as long as they were safe."

Marcus turned to face her, "By withholding information from us they almost caused your death," he snarled, if that would've happened, "I would've done everything in my power to erase Olympus and any trace of the Greek gods from the face of the earth."

Thrud stared as a heavy pressure filled the room, and a silver aura billowed off his body. She slowly got off the bed and walked over to him, she wrapped her arms around him, surprisingly his magic didn't hurt her, "Hey you know as well as I do it was all part of the Greeks test, besides were both okay, so please calm down."

Marcus relaxed and took a deep breath. Thrud's sent filled his nose, the scent of freshly fallen snow. When he had himself under control he said, "I know all that, but I still don't like going into a situation blind."

"I know," Thrud said soothingly, "but it's part of the job we took upon ourselves when we decided to stop the Celts."

Thrud led him back over to the bed and they sat down, "So, you scooped me up into your arms and began to leave the village," she prompted.

Marcus squeezed Thrud's hand and stared out the window, "Before I could get out of the village Nemesis appeared before me. She told me I couldn't leave, she told me since I killed her ride that I had to entertain her until the Celts sent someone else to pick her up," he sneered in disgust as he recounted what Nemesis told him.

Thrud squeezed his hand and Marcus's face relaxed, "I told her No. That I was getting you out of there."

"She told me she couldn't allow that and you disappeared and appeared in a crystal around her neck."

"When you disappeared from my arms I wanted to unleash my full power and crush Nemesis and everyone else on the island, but I couldn't because I didn't know if I would hurt you if I did, so I waited to see what she was capable of and to see what her powers were."

She charged forward and threw a punch of my head. I sidestepped, but she pirouetted on her foot and kicked me in the ribs. I stumbled, but regain my balance just in time for her to slam her staff into my chest. I went flying into a cabin.

"I rose from the remains of the cabin and pulled a spear from my trench coat. I use the spear to attract lightning and wind, so I could attack her from a distance."

"Wait a minute, how were you able to summon lightning when I couldn't?"

Marcus smiled, "I'm a Fay it's a whole lot harder to block my connection to nature."

Thrud pouted, "Lucky bastard."

Marcus shook his head, "Anyways, I spent the next few minutes knocking her around with wind and lightning. All of a sudden she absorbed my lightning and sent it flying back at me. I raised my spear to block the lightning and lost sight of her."

"She appeared behind me. I spun around, but I wasn't quick enough. She transformed her hand into a Panther's claw and swiped at my stomach. Just before, her claws connected I stop the blood flow to my abdomen, so blood didn't floe from the gashes that I gained on my gut."

"I stumbled backwards and dropped my spear."

"She picked up my spear and prepared to stab me with it, but by then I had already figured out her weakness. I transformed my spear into a silver snake whose venom would turn all the power she had stolen into poison. It bit her, I retrieved the crystal containing you, chopped off her head, and then left the island."

"And that is everything that happened after you passed out," Marcus finished as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

"So, what do we do now?" Thrud asked as she watched the first few birds of the day take flight outside the window.

"Well," Marcus began with a wave of his hand. A table appeared in the center of the room on top of that was two bowls of porridge, toast, and a plate of sausages, "I thought after we eat we could go to some stores to replenish our supplies since ours was destroyed with our ship."

Thrud nodded silently impressed that Marcus conjured food. Together they got up off the bed, made their way over to the table, sat down, and began to eat.

They ate in silence just enjoying each other's company. After eating they left the room and made their way out of the Inn. When they were outside Marcus turned to Thrud, "Where do you want to go first?"

Thrud raised an eyebrow, "Do you really have to ask? Weapons of course."

Marcus nodded, he should've known. They made their way down the street in search of a blacksmith. They found one at the end of the street run by a grubby looking man covered in soot. He stopped pounding on a roughly shaped sword and looked up, "How can I help you?"

Marcus stepped forward, "My friend here," he gestured to Thrud, "is looking for some weapons."

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, he was surprised that a woman wanted weapons but said nothing. He rose to his feet and gestured to Thrud, "Well, follow me little lady and I'll show you what I've got."

Thrud nodded and step forward. When she realized Marcus wasn't following her she looked back.

"I'll wait here on you," he told her, it was getting harder to ignore the voices and control his power. He didn't want to take the chance that he might lose control of his magic around sharp objects.

Thrud nodded and followed the man deeper into his shack.

After she was gone, Marcus sighed and his shoulder sagged. It was hard not letting Thrud see how difficult it was for him to control his power. He closed his eyes and pushed the dark whispers to the back of his mind then put them behind a mental wall. He sighed in relief that his mind was finally quiet, at least for a little while.

He then began taking slow deep breath in an effort to calm the raging power inside him.

His magic calmed and flowed smoothly through his body, instead of the raging river that it was before.

By the time he got everything worked out footsteps alerted him that Thrud was returning. He opened his eyes. Thrud walked toward him with a sword strapped to her back.

The young Prince raised an eyebrow, "That's all, I halfway expected you to buy out the man's entire shop."

Thrud glared at him playfully, "Shut up."

Marcus shook his head and turned to the blacksmith, "How much?"

The blacksmith ran a hand through his beard, "Three hundred gold pieces."

Marcus nodded and reached into his pocket, he pulled out a small bag containing the correct amount and threw it to the blacksmith, "It's all there."

The blacksmith weighed the gold in his hand, before walking over to his anvil and pulling out a set of scales. He put a weight on one end and poured the gold onto the other. When it balanced out he nodded, "Everything seems in order," he said scooping up the gold and putting the scales away, "have a good day."

Marcus nodded and together he and Thrud said about making their way through Sami's crowded streets. "Where to now," he asked as they dodged eager shoppers.

"Well we both need some new clothes," Thrud said as she stepped aside to let some children pass.

Marcus nodded and they set about finding a clothing stall.

Three hours later, the royal duo made their way down the street with Marcus's pockets heavy with their shrunken shopping.

"Well," Marcus said turning to Thrud, "I guess it's time we give Nemesis's head to the Greeks."

Thrud nodded and pulled out the crystal that Zeus had given her. She crushed it in her hand and white smoke spun around them before they disappeared.

_**TGP**_

The Royal duo appeared back in the white room where the twelve Olympian gods held counsel. White fog danced around the statues that decorated the room and snaked in between their thrones to settle around the Royal duo's feet.

Marcus and Thrud stood in the center of a circle surrounded by the twelve Olympian gods. Magic began to billow from Marcus as he faced the people that almost got his love killed.

Seeing Marcus's magic rise, Thrud squeezed his hand, the young Prince relaxed and his magic faded.

"Well," Zeus began looking at the Royal duo expectantly, "did you complete your quest?"

Marcus nodded stiffly and fought to keep from attacking the King of the gods. He reached into his pocket and grabbed nemesis's head by the hair and pulled.

The head seen to grow in size and soon emerged from the Prince of Avalon's pocket.

Marcus through the head it somersaulted through the air and landed at the foot of Zeus's throne.

Zeus shot Marcus a glare clearly unimpressed with his attitude. He raised his hand and the head floated up off the floor, after a moment of examination he nodded, "Everything seems in order. Since you have completed your quest we will help you in the coming war with the Celts."

Marcus nodded stiffly and he and Thrud turned to leave.

Suddenly Apollo stiffened and his eyes glowed gold. He began to speak in a raspy voice, "Heroes from a distant land must train with the Greeks to save man if they do not the world will be lost at a terrible cost."

Everyone in the room stiffened,

"Was that what I think it was?" Marcus asked Thrud.

Thrud nodded grimly, "Yes, that was a prophecy."

Zeus turned to Apollo. The god of prophecy sat slumped in his chair, "What does this new prophecy mean Apollo?"

"It means," Apollo began grimly, "that we need to train these two," he gestured to Marcus and Thrud, "in our ways or the world will fall to the Celts."

Zeus sprang to his feet, "This is outrageous there's no way I'm going to allow outsiders to be trained in our ways."

Apollo nodded, "That is your right as King, but if they do not learn from us you will lose everything."

Zeus scowled, he didn't want these outsiders to learn their secrets, but he definitely did not want to lose his kingdom. He nodded grimly, "Fine, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Demeter will train the boy", the named gods nodded, "Aries, Athena, and Bologna will train the girl." Athena and Bologna nodded while Aries grinned nastily.

"Is this acceptable to you?" Zeus asked the Royal duo.

Marcus really didn't trust the Greeks after the quest to get Nemesis's head, but he knew you couldn't fight a prophecy. He looked at Thrud, the Norse Princess nodded firmly.

Marcus turned back to Zeus, "We accept."

Zeus nodded and tried not to smile. He figured as long as he didn't train them then they couldn't become too powerful, he nodded, "If there is nothing else?" No one said anything, "meeting adjourned then." He and the other Olympians disappeared in a flash of light.

Thrud turned to Marcus, "Well, this is an interesting development."

"Yes it is," Marcus agreed, "but you need to be careful. I don't like the way Aries was looking at you."

Thrud wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest, "Don't worry I can take care of myself."

"I know," Marcus said wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on top of her head, "but it still doesn't stop me from worrying."

"Nothing would ever stop you from worrying," Thrud countered as she looked into his eyes.

Marcus met her gaze and dipped his head down, "Your right, I will always worry about the ones I love." He said before capturing her lips in a kiss.

_**TGP**_

The white lady stood on the deck of a ship leading forty-nine more out of the Celtic harbor. She stared at the setting sun, "Enjoy your last few months on earth people of Avalon because soon your great island will fall."


End file.
